Rob,
Bear Creek was originally started as a "golden bear" design,
which, if I understand correctly is the section of Nicklaus
design that Jack actually has no involvement with in terms of
design. At some point in the process Nicklaus Design dropped
the course and the pieces were picked up someone else and
the course was finished. The course probably never would
have been very good, but in this case the result is really
bad. There are significant wetlands issues, not to mention
fairways that repel balls into the forest, cart paths that
increasingly come into play, and all this on a piece of land
that is very much on the sever side for a golf course.
I think that the Nicklaus course you might be thinking of is
Birch River, which I believe opened recently, though I haven't
heard anything about it yet.
Keith.