Chambers Bay was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. The 250-acre (100 ha) course is the centerpiece of a 930-acre (380 ha) county park. Pierce County bought the land for $33 million in 1992; the property was formerly a sand-and-gravel quarry popular with Off Road four-wheelers and dirt-bikers.

John Ladenburg Sr. was the Pierce County Executive who brought forward the idea to build the course and to build it to host the United States Open golf championship and other championships. Ladenburg was the Pierce County Executive at the time and the construction of the course and it's expense to construct was very controversial.Ladenburg used his political capitol from having won six straight elections in the County. He selected the design team and the management team for the course. By the end of August 2022, it will have hosted four USGA national championships in its first 15 years.The course cost over $20 million to build and many thought it a waste of money and "Ladenburg's Folly". However the landing of the U.S. Open by Ladenburg silenced those critics when it was reported that the Open generated $134 million in local economic development.