Tom Kite, a 19-time PGA Tour winner who just captured his 10th Champions Tour victory Sunday at the Boeing Classic near Seattle, took a day out of his preparation this week to tour _ and play – Chambers Bay Golf Course.

He liked it.

And he sees plenty of work ahead for the site of the 2010 U.S. Amateur, and 2015 U.S Open.

"I thought the … whole complex was impressive. Holy smokes, to take that quarry and make it the facility they have is fantastic," said Kite, who played the course Tuesday, three days before the start of the Boeing Classic. "They are going to have to hurry to get it ready (for the U.S. Am)."

In a couple weeks, Chambers Bay will celebrate its 15-month anniversary.

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Kite has played all over the world, and knows that fescue grass – which makes up Chambers Bay's fairways and greens – is a sensitive strain to grow.

"Those are very slow-to-get-established grasses," Kite said. "And they don't have any irrigation up on the slopes and sand dunes where they are trying to get fescues established."

What concerns Kite is that getting the grass primed for a five-star event is labor-intensive. With Chambers Bay being a Pierce County-owned facility, he recognizes there will be "limitations on labor."

"They don't realize how short a time frame two years is when you're trying to establish fescues," Kite said. "They've got to get going. They have no seconds to spare right now."