UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – At the start of 2015 Chambers Bay was viewed as an exciting new venue for June’s U.S. Open. Four months after Jordan Spieth’s victory in one of the most dramatic finishes to that championship the course is viewed differently.

Now, four months later, it still has the historical benefits from being a major championship site, but it’s even more a travel destination than it was before Dustin Johnson three-putted the last green from 12 feet to give Spieth his second major title.

Chambers looks a lot different than it did during the U.S. Open, the first ever held in the Pacific Northwest. The corporate hospitality tents are gone, of course, but the beating the course took from welcoming 280,000 visitors in that one week is still evident. The visitors are still coming, though. They’re coming strictly to play now.

There’s a different perception of Chambers in the aftermath of the big event. There was an aura of mystery about it before the Open. Now that the game’s best players have dealt with it there’s more an anticipation to learn what this place is all about. Chambers Bay was a good story to tell before the Open; it’s an even better one now.

This is a county-owned walking-only golf course. Caddies aren’t mandatory (though they’d be helpful on the 7 ½-mile jaunt that includes the equivalent of 13 floors in elevation). Staffers are assigned to various spots on the course to help the players in various ways and facilitate play, but there’s much more to the Chambers Bay experience.

For one thing, there’s no definition between the greens and the fairways — an extreme rarity in the U.S. courses. A train regularly runs along the outskirts of the course, which offers stunning water views of Puget Sound.

For historical perspective there’s the remnants of the sand and gravel storage bins that dominated the property a couple decades before it became a golf course. Now they give the course a Stonehenge look. A three-mile walking/biking trails winds through the course, much like Scotland’s storied St. Andrews, but golfers aren’t impacted by it at all. The same for a dog park. Chambers Bay is a benefit to its community, not just to the golfers.

Unlike most every other U.S. Open venue, there’s no big clubhouse. The pro shop is relatively small (but certainly adequate). Players are taken from it to the range and first tee via a shuttle, and a trailer houses the snack shop, where you claim your push cart or hook up with your caddie. It’s a friendly setting that becomes even more enjoyable as you meander through the course.

It’s a course like no other – at least in the United States — and we enjoyed exploring those differences. You frequently putt from great distances. To play well you have to cope with the many undulations, on the fairways as well as the greens. The fairways are huge – No. 13 was the widest ever at a U.S. Open – and the rough isn’t so penal that it scares you. The two of us, both very avid but ordinary recreational players, lost only one ball between us while playing with two Chambers veterans – general manager Matt Allen and assistant professional Ryan Young.

The U.S. Open didn’t always present Chambers Bay in a favorable light, which created a mind-boggling dilemma for Allen.

“As time passes you reflect on the good and the bad, and you see that globally it was an unqualified success,’’ said Allen. “But in the moment you would see the energy and the excitement at the same time when players in the media center were losing their minds about the putting greens.’’

The conditioning of the greens were a problem, no doubt about it. Allen attributes it to record heat in May and June, and it continued for two months after the tournament. That made recovery from the Open more difficult. Still, recreational play resumed the Friday after the last putt dropped and Chambers Bay returned to being a great asset to its community but with a higher profile.

“You’ve got to go back to Hazeltine (the Minnesota club that hosted the 1970 U.S. Open, won by Britain’s Tony Jacklin) as the last time the U.S. Open was played on a new course,’’ said Allen. “Players didn’t universally accept Hazeltine, either.’’

But Hazeltine survived to host another U.S. Open and as well as a PGA Championship, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open. It will also be the site of next year’s Ryder Cup matches.

Chamber Bays’ story is a bit different. The course was built by Pierce County with the intention of landing a U.S. Open. That was an extraordinary mission, with lots of parties involved. Among the key ones were John Landenburg, a Pierce County executive who convinced local politicians to to spend $20 million on the project; Robert Trent Jones Jr., the architect; Chicago-based KemperSports, which manages the facility; and the U.S. Golf Assn.

They worked together to get the course open in 2007, the accolades poured in immediately and by 2010 Chambers was hosting a U.S. Amateur. The 2015 U.S. Open made Chambers the only course built in the last 50 years and the first with links-style architecture to host the tournament.

Add to it the fact that Chambers’ No. 12 hole yielded the most eagles in U.S. Open history, and you have a lot of golf history made in a very short time frame. Allen has been at Chambers almost from the beginning so his perspective is noteworthy.

After completing his studies at Oregon he was – at age 21 — named the tournament and course rating director for the Oregon Golf Assn. Now a 17-year employee of KemperSports, he moved to Oregon’s then up-and-coming Bandon Dunes Resort in 1999 as assistant general manager and has been GM at Chambers for seven years. He recorded every Open-related telecast, but hasn’t gotten through Day 1 in viewing it all yet.

“For those of us on the grounds it certainly exceeded expectations,’’ he said. “The feedback we’ve gotten from others is how much more enjoyable it was watching a U.S. Open where you see (the world’s top players) having to think their way around the golf course the way everyone else does.’’

He expects Chambers Bay to return to as a major tournament venue at some point, but it’ll be tough to top what’s happened there already.

“We can top it by bringing the Open back in 10-12 years and doing it better,’’ Allen said. “Meanwhile, we’ll just continue to cement our championship pedigree.’’

And accommodate curious players. There’s a lot more of them now. Allen said Chambers drew players from only 12 states in the late summer months of 2014 as the Open was closing in. In the three months after this Open, though, players from 57 different states or countries have teed off there. One from France was playing during our visit.

“We’ll see that traffic for a long time to come,’’ Allen predicted.

Chambers is now even offering a unique golf package in conjunction with Tacoma’s Hotel Murano and two nearby facilities – The Home Course in DuPont and Gold Mountain in Bremerton. The Home Course was Chambers’ alternate course in the 2010 U.S. Amateur and hosted the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Gold Mountain hosted the 2006 U.S. Public Links and 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur.

BOZEMAN, Montana — Based on our driving the last two days Montana is the most beautiful state in the U.S. and its town of Bozeman merits a more long-term stay ASAP. We took a side trip there to check out Big Sky Resort, even though we were aware its golf course had closed for the season on Oct. 4.

We wanted to see Big Sky because it is Montana’s version of Michigan’s Boyne Resorts – long one of our favorite golf destinations. Big Sky’s welcome sign was getting a facelift when we arrived, the clubhouse was closed but the course looked great.

I guess I can’t identify with the snow-skiing set and I do accept that October weather in Montana is unpredictable. Still, it was difficult to find a beautiful course empty on a perfect day weather-wise in early October. Oh, well….

Anyway, though I consider myself well-travelled within the U.S. and Canada due to all the work-related trips I made over the years, this week has been in largely uncharted territory. Earlier we made our first visit to South Dakota. Now we’re in Montana for the first time and later today it’ll be our first time ever in Idaho. All very interesting.

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The Floating Green is a gimmicky thing, but it brought the desired attention to Lake Coeur d’Alene Resort.

It was envisioned by Duane Hagadone in 1991, when the first ball was struck toward this movable putting surface. The 6,803-yard course was designed by Scott Miller but No. 14 is the hole that put the course on the global map.

The tee doesn’t move – there are five tee placements, allowing the hole to play anywhere from 95 to 218 yards –but the green does. It’s a man-made, 15,000-square foot island green that changes location. It gets further from the tee as the season goes on because the depth of the water changes. The “putter’’ boat takes golfers from the tee to the green and back. Wish I could have played this famous hole, but time constraints prevented that.

Still, checking it out was well worth the visit. Arguably the most unusual hole in all of golf will celebrate its 25th year in 2016 by getting a re-grassing. The course had its conditioning problems recently, with a staff member informing me that six of the greens were lost during the season. He said that No. 14 is likely the best on the course, but all 18 will be re-grassed shortly after the course is closed on Oct. 17 – two weeks earlier than usual.

It’s hard to look past the Floating Green – after all, the road leading past the gate house to the clubhouse is Floating Green Drive – but the course has more attractions than that. It has lake views on every hole and 1,500 wild flowers also spice up the viewing experience.

VALENTINE, Neb. – The first thing you notice as you approach the Prairie Club in the sandhills of Nebraska is what’s not there.

You cruise through the “big’’ town of Valentine (population 2,830) and 17 miles later you see the first indication that a big-time golf resort is nearby. It’s just a small sign saying the entrance is a half-mile away.

Then you hit the entrance – just a small sign as well – and face a two-mile drive down a winding dirt road to the clubhouse that, most notably, takes you by some mean-looking cattle. Then the fun begins.

At the Prairie Club the accommodations are more than comfortable. The décor has a rustic elegance that includes leopard carpeting on the stairs. The food is good, the atmosphere memorable, the staff extremely friendly and helpful. But at the Prairie Club it’s all about golf . You can have your fun on its two 18-hole courses as well as its unique 10-hole Horse Course, a par-3 layout that has no tee markers.

An interesting place, this Prairie Club. There’s not many golf options around it, but plenty inside its ample borders. This place is pure golf, just what founder Paul Schock wanted when he got the place up and running on June 11, 2010.

“We want our guests to have fun. That’s the object of our Horse Course,’’ said head professional Loudan Steffes. “It gives you as many options, and as many players in a group, as you like. And a round there doesn’t take four-five hours.’’

The Horse Course is unique. Gil Hanse, now famous as the designer of the Brazil course that will host next year’s first Olympics golf competition since 1904, created it. You play the Horse Course like you would play that popular game in backyard basketball, hence the name. The Horse Course spurs creativity as well as fun competition. Too bad more golf facilities don’t offer such a course. Golf, as played on the Horse Course, would bring more players into the game.

But I digress. The Prairie Club is a lot more than the Horse Course. The Dunes Course, designed by former British Open champion Tom Lehman with guidance from Chris Brand, is long – a par-73 that can play at over 8,000 yards from the very back tees. This is one of those courses where it’s imperative you play from the right set of tees. If you don’t you could well be in for a long day.

The length shouldn’t dissuade you, though. Neither should all the weird-shaped bunkers, some of which have “blowouts’’ in them and some of which feature what look like Pete Dye railroad ties placed in a much-less-random order. They’re more like fence posts.

“Those are posts, for aesthetic purposes, just to give a different look,’’ explained Steffes. “You don’t see them everywhere.’’

No, you don’t, and if you get behind one you’re dead.

The “blowouts,’’ native to the sandhills so prevalent in the area, are featured in the wide area of waste bunkers throughout the layout. You never know what you’re going to get when you go into those bunkers.

“The wind creates them, and they’re constantly changing over time as well,’’ said Steffes. “The wind changes the shape of the sand.’’

The other 18, called the Pines, is also a par-73 but much different than the Dunes. The Australian star, Graham Marsh, designed that 18, which is more playable for the average player and perhaps easier than the Dunes — even though the greens are more severe. Regardless of how you compare the courses, the views of the Snake River Canyon offered on the Pines are stunning from the Points of Solitude viewing spot behind the No. 16 green.

There’s one thing about the Prairie Club that’s historically amazing. It was built in just over five months. That seems astounding, given the time it takes to build or renovate courses everywhere else these days.

Prairie Club was spawned as the third big-time course in the sandhills. Shock had been a member of one, the 18-hole Sand Hills Country Club, designed by the noted design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The other, Dismal River, has 36 holes. Both of those are private clubs while at Prairie Club play is about half and half between its members (about 400 of them) and the public.

The two private clubs had closed for the season by early October, when we visited Prairie Club. Nebraska has a surprisingly short golf season thanks to the unpredictability of fall weather. The sandhills area has been known to have snow in October, so the Prairie Club will close for golf on Oct. 18 and won’t re-open until next May 13. There will, however, be some winter activities there, primarily to accommodate hunters and weddings.

NIOBRARA, Neb. – Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen much anymore. New courses are rare, and most of those are created as renovations. They’re not really built from scratch; they’re built over existing golf courses.

It’s great that there are more renovations now than there were the last few, economically difficult, years. Some are good-looking courses, like Tom Doak’s creation of a new No. 1 Course at Medinah Country Club.

Tatanka Golf Club, is no renovation, though. It opened in mid-September after nearly three years in the construction process on land that had most recently been a homestead. Michigan architect Paul Albanese created a full-fledged, championship golf course — priced in the $5 million range – on fresh land in northeastern Nebraska, which is hardly a hotbed for golf courses.

What exists golf-wise in a 20-mile radius of Tatanka are only about five community-owned nine-hole courses. No disrespect intended, but Tatanka is certainly not one of those.

“It’s not just some little golf development, but a dramatic 18-hole championship course,’’ said Brian Bursheim, the facility’s general manager. “This will be something you can’t find for miles. You give people a real nice layout, and they will travel.’’

At least that’s what the Santee Sioux Nation is counting on when it decided to add a golf course to its Ohiya Casino and turn it into a resort on the outskirts of a town with just 375 residents.

Ohiya, which opened 17 years ago, is the oldest casino in Nebraska. It’s now in its third location and has an accompanying 48-room hotel. Though still small, it’s growing and the golf course figures to keep the momentum going among the residents of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and even Minnesota. They can all benefit from having a new upscale golf course nearby.

Albanese created the course on 300 acres, but there’s about 700 available around the casino. The course won’t hold its grand opening until next May, but golfers are already discovering the place. Several came three times from Omaha in the first month the course was open.

The layout has barely a flat spot. It’s surrounded by stunning, all-natural views and has some special touches. Albanese included two double-greens in his design (on holes 3 and 16 and No. 9 and 18). He also made it possible for buffalo to factor into the rounds played there. Tatanka is the Indian word for buffalo.

The buffalo are fenced in, but clearly evident – especially off the 13th hole. Given the mood of the herd, buffalo can get as close to 10-15 yards of the golfers.

“Nothing is forced,’’ said Albanese. “Nature has been respected in the design process, which is very important to the Sioux and appreciated.’’

For example, the land for the course was purchased from a family that had a burial ground on it. The family wanted the burial ground, which includes at least three bodies, to remain and it’s prominently marked in the fairway leading to the No. 3 green.

Bursheim was hired after the course construction had begun. He had been a head professional for five years at the Sundance public course in Buckeye, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix. Bursheim was anxious to return to his family roots in South Dakota and took the job without seeing the property.

He believes Tatanka will stand on its own, independent of the casino, in due time. Initially he envisions greens fees no higher than $75 at prime time.

“The one thing that’s different about our course compared to others in the area is that the others are either links-style or tree-lined,’’ he said. “We are a little of both, and there are undulations on every hole.’’

Some of those undulations are extreme, suggesting that Tatanka will never lend itself to being a walking course. That’s no problem for a resort facility anyway. The fairways, though, are very generous and there’s plenty of length available. The course measures 7,450 yards from the tips with a rating of 75.7 and slope of 134 but it can play as short as 4,784 yards. The are six sets of tee placements.

Tatanka won’t be in full operation until the spring of 2016. Bursheim has installed three simulators to stir golf interest among casino visitors during the winter months. When the course opens in the spring it’ll likely have GPS on the carts and the look will be a bit different than it is this fall. It’ll have new, wooden flagsticks, a general wood theme in its on-course atmosphere and full valet service will be available.

Albanese had specific ideas on how the course should look. It’s reflected even in the Indian lore included on the scorecard.

“Paul’s idea was to have it look like just-planted grass,’’ said Bursheim. “He didn’t move much dirt. He wanted to keep it as natural as possible for the golfers – like they were just out on a nature walk.’’

With the golf season in the Midwest winding down, it’s a good time to check out what’s been happening at golf’s best travel destinations – and there’s been plenty. Our first golf/travel notebook of the fall begins at one of America’s most famous courses.

The famed Harbour Town course at Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, S.C., re-opened this week after undergoing major renovation work that included the installation of a new irrigation system.

Harbour Town, a joint design effort by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus, closed in May after last year’s PGA Tour stop, the RBC Heritage Classic. All the greens were also resurfaced while the course was closed.

Keiser abandons Bandon Links project

Seven years ago Michael Keiser hired architect Gil Hanse to plan a destination golf course near his Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon. This week Keiser, citing issues with the Bureau of Land Management and disappointing results in recent well testing, announced he was abandoning the project.

“Termination of the Bandon Links project will have no effect on anything having to do with the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, where the public will continue to experience the first-class golf experiences which they have come to expect there,’’ said Keiser.

He also said he would seek another site where a project similar to Bandon Links “would be viable.’’

Kemper to manage Desert Rose

Chicago-based KemperSports has been selected to manage Desert Rose, a Las Vegas public course that has been closed for more than two years. When it re-opens sometime this fall it will have a new, still undisclosed, name.

Desert Rose was designed by Joe Lee and Dick Wilson – the architects who designed Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course that hosted Chicago’s PGA Tour stop for 20 years. Desert Rose opened in 1964 and was completely re-designed by Randy Heckenkemper during its closing.

Heckenkemper’s most recent design work includes the Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale and he also worked with Phil Mickelson on McDowell Mountain.

Salamander connects with Virginia course

Salamander Hotels and Resorts, which has 10 courses spanning Virginia and Florida, has added its Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Va. The facility will enable its guests to play at Creighton Farms, a nearby Jack Nicklaus design.

The Copperhead course at Salamander’s Innisbrook Resort in Florida is scheduled to re-open in November after a six-month restorative enhancement. It was the site of Jordan Spieth’s first victory of his storybook 2015 season in the Valspar Championship.

Another Salamander Florida resort, Reunion in Orlando, has begun work on a new clubhouse at its Nicklaus Course. Reunion is the only resort with signature designs by Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer and it also houses the Annika Academy, the creation of LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam.

New course in Nebraska

The Tatanka Golf Club has been added to the Ohiya Casino Resort of the Santee Sioux Nation in Niobrara, Nebraska. The course, a Paul Albanese design, opened in September.

Wild Dunes’ Links Course will re-open soon

Tom Fazio’s first-ever solo design was the Links Course at Wild Dunes Resort in Charleston, S.C. It’ll re-open in late October after getting a new irrigation system, concrete cart paths, a renovated halfway house, a 4,500-square foot putting green and new views of the Atlantic Ocean on holes 16-18.

New look for California’s Quail Lodge

Todd Eckenrode, a California-based architect, removed several lakes and introduced deep grass swales in his effort to freshen up Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Irvine, Calif. Swales are prominent on holes 1, 2, 14, 16 and 17, the last of which is now the course’s feature hole.