It was Matt Cohn who said that Morgan Creek is a big golf course, and as Jed Peters noted, even through it is within a housing development, it would be difficult to bounce one into someone’s swimming pool.
My first comment is that it does not play as long as one would expect for a 7,303 yard golf course. There are no hidden distance gains like altitude or firm bouncy turf to make it shorter but there is yardage built in on the par-5s and par-3s. Par-5s of 609 and 579 are 3-shotters for even the longest hitters but the shortest par-3 was a 5 iron for me. Only 3 par-4s were over 450 yards and the shortest par-4 was 360.
I got tricked on the distances to the green a couple of times and I think the style (exposed grassy lips) and placement (some greenside bunker were 10-15 yards off the green) of the bunkers were the cause.
What I liked about Morgan Creek was the every hole had a line of charm for the tee ball but also had plenty of width for the not so accurate driver. Those who were able to play the correct line, could gain extra distance off the moundings and shelves in the fairways and usually a better angle into the green.
The fairway bunkers were penal, if you got a lucky and the ball rolled to the bottom wide area, you might have a clear shot to the green.
For a flat piece of land, there is some elevation change and many of the greens felt higher then the surface of the fairway, slightly elevated. I never got the feeling that you could run the ball up onto many of the greens if you wanted to.
The greens had plenty of slope, not in wild way but enough so that you could play your shot away from the hole location and allow the slope of the green to move the ball to the hole.
Morgan Creek is a very playable course and if you played it every day, you would be a better golfer for doing so. Although my play is limited in the Sacramento area, it is at the top of my list.
Holes of note:
#2 – The #1 handicap and longest par-4 at 474 yards required a solid drive and very demanding second shot into a humpbacked green that was guarded with a bunker left and right short of the green. This bunker configuration left the opening to the green very narrow. The green sat in a hollow of mounds and perhaps a punchbowl style of green might provide a more fun test of a hole of this length. On the bright side, as the second hole, it is better to get your double bogey out of the way early in the round.
#9 – A wide fairway 432 yard slight dogleg left par-4. Play down the left side, challenging the bunkers and water, and you are rewarded with a short iron into the tough green. Play out to the right, and the length of your second shot lengthens considerably. Before the flipping of the nines, this was the 18th and a tough finisher.
#11 – 451 yard par-4 that has a large Oak near the front left of the green. The approach shot therefore calls for a draw and the green slopes right to left, gladly accepting that type of shot.
As with any course, Morgan Creek is not perfect, but listening to Kyle speak of the challenges that they faced in the design and construction process, you can see that a perfect concept at the beginning of the project is likely never going to be the final product.