I don't know if this was a factor or not, but maybe they changed the routing to avoid starting with a blind tee shot. Not only that, but with the new configuration you get some seaside holes on the front 9 as well. With the old routing you didn't get to the water until the 11th hole (the cape). You saw all that water and it felt painfully long before you got to play next to it! Now the water holes are 6, 8, 14,15,16.Maybe a little more balanced in that regard.
However, I will say it was a thrill attempting (in all honesty I wasn't really attempting, it just kind of happened) to drive the green on the first hole. I played from the back tees (380 yards) with a tail wind. I was able to get my drive pin high on the bank of the pot bunker at the front right of the green. I think that was my favourite start ever to a round.