Tom:
Glad to hear you could not ignore the 16th and 17th holes.
Your own words hit the nail on the head / re: 18th -- it's "not as exciting ..."
Rock Creek has a range of fun and thrilling holes -- in my mind, the 18th lays flat when held against the standard you face prior to that point. Simple as that for me.
Matt is certainly entitled to his opinion and I appreciate his willingness to express it. But, generally, this kind of perspective always fascinates me and, I think, highlights a few real shortcomings in the way many look at golf courses. Golf courses are supposed to be
courses, not collections of individual holes with no relationship between one and the next. Loving the 16th and 17th while knocking the 18th makes little sense to me because without the 18th taking us back up to the clubhouse, the 16th and 17th couldn't exist, or else the course would dead end into a rock wall (without a waterfall.) One can reasonably ask whether the 18th could have been done differently, or whether the entire three hole loop should be discarded, but to just focus on the individual holes without figuring how and why the fit together misses the point of having a
course.
Likewise, I don't think it necessarily makes sense to expect every hole on a course to offer the same level or type of excitement and thrills. The reason 16 through 18 have a slightly different feel is that they aren't built through the moraine. Sort of like leaving the dunes on a links course for a hole or two. To make those holes like the others, one would have to reroute the course entirely or do a huge amount of earth moving to build big artificial rolls. Thank goodness that isn't Doak's style.
As for the 18th, I like it very much, and think it gets better with every play. I think if it were called a long par 4 with the tee up and it played like a par 4 1/2 it would get much less criticism but it wouldn't necessarily be a better hole. Not the same type of thrills as the other wild-ride par 5's, but a challenging and fun hole nonetheless. Ironically, I think it would be the best par 5 (if not the best hole) on many courses, including Black Rock. But at Rock Creek the holes are all so spectacular and wild, that it is easy to pick on the flattest one,and it is not anywhere near flat. To me it is a very appropriate finish for a ranch course. Ranch houses are very often located next to a meadow and along a creek, so playing the hole evokes the satisfaction one feels riding home through a beautiful, cool meadow after a long day in the sun.
Another nice thing about this stretch is it makes for a terrific 3 hole warm up or practice loop, or gambling loop, or whatever. If I was a member there I'd have a hard time resisting hoofing it over to the 16th tee whenever I had a free 1/2 hour or so.
Here is a photo from Rock Creek's website of the 18th, the hole most often criticized. If this is the worst out there, then this ought to give those who haven't seen it an idea of how good the course is. And it is better than it looks in this photo. There is a steep uphill ridge in the landing area (for shorter hitters) that cannot really be seen in the photo, and it really helps to clear it on the drive. And I think there is a definite advantage in approaching the green from the creek side, depending on the pin. I hoped the hole would have a bit more right to left slope (like 5 at Merion) but the green is treacherous enough as is.
Again, no offense meant to Matt here. I understand what he is saying about the hole. But at the same time I think the criticism points out problems with the methodology more than it does with the course.