George:
Appreciate the fact we can link together on an issue.
Let me point out that Morgan Hill cannot be walked -- save for the few, the proud, the Marines!!!
Like I said earlier -- the routing and overall layout are done very well by Moran. Where there are weak holes they occupy such a tiny slice of the totality you experience there.
In regards to Pennsy public golf -- it's clear that the state has a very wide margin between the private side of the ledger and the public one. I dare say that only The Empire State has such a wider margin between these two categories.
The issue with Olde Stonewall is that it is crammed into a demanding site and at a number of instances it simply capitulates the maxim that the good shot is to be rewarded and the poor shot penalized.
I like the work of Hurdzan / Fry but Olde Stonewall is more about man's desire to overcome rather than man's desire to both overcome and succeed with a first rate routing and at least the idea of lip service to what quality architecture is all about.
When you play Morgan Hill you will quickly note the differences between the two courses and how one simply fails to be what it could have been and how the other is the result of Moran's adroit skill in being able to keep the golf component front and center.
I am also a fan of Quick Silver but I soured on the course the last time I was in town for the US Amateur. The bunkers need to be completely rebuilt and the surrounding grasses present a hippe-type look that needs some serious effort. Quick Silver is no doubt a superb layout because of the way the land falls away from the clubhouse. Yet, I came away from my fifth visit just wondering if the ownership there is truly interested in furthering the reputation or simply lazy enough to fall back on past achievements.
On Nemacolin I see things a bit differently. The sharp angles Pete Dye provided make for some unique and albeit controversial design. I like the course but I have not played it since Pete came back and did additional work for the 84 Lumber Gang.
The sad fact is that Pennsy doesn't have enough juice inthe public arena. Those who fantasize about the reforming of Cobb's Creek will likely meet Jesus in person before that happens. The Harrisburg area has a few courses of note -- I particularly like P.B. Dye's effort at Iron Valley in Cornwall is also quite good but was completely ignored.
I will also echo what others have said about Great Bear in Marshalls Creek -- a superb layout that often is ignored because too many Jersey people simply stay on the I-80 &
I-78 side of the Delaware. Forget Shawnee because it is a relic from yesteryear -- Great Bear is indeed one of the best public layouts in Pennsy that I have played and merits even more attention.