Creek Club Locust Valley NY

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bart,

With decent wind velocities, which are normal at that site, holes # 6, 7, 8, 9, especially 10 and 11, 12, and 13 become more than interesting and more than challenging.

What was the wind like on the day you played. ?

The wind was significant.  20mph or so.  I agree that the holes were very challenging.  I agree that 6-9 and 12 and 13 were absolutely great.  10 was downwind, probably reachable but lots of trouble and 11 nearly dead into the wind.  My second try   with a 3 wood managed to get to 25 feet...two putt par.  

Pat, is a 220 yd island green a good idea?  I said iffy, because I felt like I needed a lot more exposure to the hole to understand its qualities (good and bad).  

With an 80 yard deep green, and multiple tees, I'd say it's a great idea, especially since it's on the water and subject to great winds

[Ari Techner]

I was lucky enough to get in a round this past weekend at the Creek Club in Locust Valley NY.  It was my second round there and to be honest I cannot understand why this course does not get more love.  I am a big fan of Macdonald and Raynor and have played many of their courses including a few that are very highly ranked.  I think Creek is just amazing.  Definitely behind National Golf Links but better than all the rest except maybe Chicago GC which is as different from Creek as can be.  The first 5 holes are really good but holes 6-18 are just fantastic and on land that is world class.  Holes 10 and 11 are almost literally in Long Island sound.  6 has one of the best greens I have ever seen.  Maybe the club wants it this way but I wonder why this course does not get more acclaim.  If anyone is in the area and can get out there I would strongly urge you to check it out.  

Ari,

Have you played Piping Rock? Goodness knows The Creek has been good to me and my family as a non-member, but Piping Rock is rock solid from 1-18. Yale and Fishers  on the other side of Long Island Sound are also tough to compare with when you go 1-18. Even the updated Sleepy Hollow would give The Creek a run for its money as an all around club.

A little dated and I do love the place but The Creek has some tough competition in the MacRaynorBanks family:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,19684.0/

I have played Piping Rock once a few years ago.  It is also a fantastic golf course but I like Creek better I think it is more unique.  Piping Rock reminds me more of other Macdonald/Raynor's that I have played while Creek has a feel all its own IMO.  I also absolutely love Yale.  It is fantastic and a ton of fun.  I have not played Sleepy Hollow but it is high on my list of courses to get to.  To give a better perspective for my opinion, here is a list of the Macdonald and or Raynor courses that I have played in alphabetical order:

Blue Mound
Camargo Club
Chicago GC
Creek Club
Fisher's Island
Fox Chapel
Lookout Mountain
National Golf Links
Old White
Piping Rock
Shoreacres
Southampton
St. Louis CC
Westhampton
Yale

[Brian Brady]

I truly enjoyed the template holes.  The Club hired Adam Wilkins from Pine Valley as their superintendant and he has added an element of polish to the delightful layout.

DEAN

I met with Adam over the summer and was truly impressed with his eagerness to get started there.  We drove around the property while he told me all about the restoration that they were trying to do, and even showed me the different aerials that they were going off of.  He's got an amazing story.

As for the course, I agree that after #5 the course was wild.  Not the best Macdonald/Raynor, but I thought it was definitely worth the trip from Ohio.

[TEPaul]

"Anywho, I think the 2 (or 3) really different land "environments" at Creek is very unique and gave the first time player the "what's behind the next corner" all the way around the course.  That's a great feeling and one that can't be replicated....so I'll concede that the property/routing was well unified by Raynor."


Clint:

That's true and so the recent idea has been to make those 3 areas (1-5=parkland, 6-8, what I would call inland links, 9-14=seaside and 15-18 back uphill in inland links) look and feel as distinct from one another as their natural enviroments allow rather than to homogenize their look and feel in any way. A lot of vegetation has been taken off the area between #9 and #12 to expose the sand look and the reeds have been cut and dredged between #13 and #14.

There could be some interesting restoration items coming such as the restoration of the massive sand mound left and front of #10 green and hopefully the expansion of the 17th green. I would also like to see enough tree clearing down the left side of #6 so that the golfer could clearly see the entire 6th green from the tee. There are some good old original mounds in that area.

Another item that seems to be sliding back in priority was to somehow try to restore the bunkering (including a massive fairway bunker that may've been up to 10,000 sf) and original Macdonald/Raynor green on #3. The latter could be tricky though as no one can be too sure at this point what the original Macdonald/Raynor green looked like in detail.

[Patrick_Mucci]

I don't know why there's this need to rank courses, especially courses like The Creek, Piping Rock, Engineers and others.

Each is unique.

Each is enjoyable while providing a suitable challenge.

If you belonged to any one of those courses should you be envious of others ?

Why not enjoy each course for what it uniquely offers ?

You can find strenghts and weaknesses in every course, so what, on balance the overall experience is fun and challenging, and that's all that counts.

[TEPaul]

"I don't know why there's this need to rank courses, especially courses like The Creek, Piping Rock, Engineers and others.
Each is unique."



Patricio:

You da Man! THIS is one of those very rare occassions where I actually agree with you!

[PThomas]

as much as i liked Engineers, I liked The Creek CLub even better...and how cool it must be to have a drink overlooking the course below!

(didnt get to play Piping Rock so cant compare)

[Bill_McBride]

The Creek Club is a great course.  The steak and lobster dinner down at the beach club that followed the outing I participated in was other worldly, I felt like Jay Gatsby and kept wondering where Daisy was!

[TEPaul]

Bill:

The Creek Club's beach club will apparently be redesigned and completely upgraded in the not distant future. I must say I am not for it even though for some odd reason they did not ask me for my opinion about it but thankfully they did not try to assess me for it either. 

That Beach Club has been that way since I was a young lad and that is a long, long time ago now. I would have voted to have it remain as it was for all time to come. Redesigning that beach club is about in league with redesigning the clubhouse at GCGC, in my opinion. The architectural style of both is highly unique and highly prized in my book. The architectural style of both have often been referred to as "World War Two Army Barracks" look.

[Bill_McBride]

Bill:

The Creek Club's beach club will apparently be redesigned and completely upgraded in the not distant future. I must say I am not for it even though for some odd reason they did not ask me for my opinion about it but thankfully they did not try to assess me for it either. 

That Beach Club has been that way since I was a young lad and that is a long, long time ago now. I would have voted to have it remain as it was for all time to come. Redesigning that beach club is about in league with redesigning the clubhouse at GCGC, in my opinion. The architectural style of both is highly unique and highly prized in my book. The architectural style of both have often been referred to as "World War Two Army Barracks" look.

Bummer, that is a great old clubhouse.   

[Mark McKeever]

Any pictures of this beach clubhouse for reference?

Mark

[Bill Brightly]

I had the chance to play The Creek last week for the first time. What a Macdonald gem! Pure F-U-N to play. Here are few random shots:

tee shot on Hole 10, now a driveable par 4:








Left of 10 fairway, looking back at the club's beach house




Greenside bunker, hidden from the tee



Hole 11, Biarritz





from behind the green

[Bill Brightly]

Hole 12 tee shot



Hole 13, Creek, tee shot




Approach to green

[Bill Brightly]

Approach to 15



Just short of the green. What GREAT design!



Look back from the green

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

It gets much love from me. it is a great course with a wonderful feel to it.

[SPDB]

Surprised these pics aren't getting more attention. There clearly has been a lot of work taking place in Lattingtown. The formalized sandy areas on 10 and between 12 and 13 are pretty striking.  Its amazing to me that they seem to have taken out all of the reeds on 13 and (i assume) 14, which I had always assumed would be untouchable from an ESA perspective.  Is the tee shot on 14 no longer blind?

[Mark Saltzman]

Bill,

Thanks for the photos, the course looks fantastic!

Added to: http://www.delicious.com/golfclubatlas/New%2BYork

[Jason Baran]

SPDB - the reeds have been gone for a couple of years now, which has really opened up the vistas on 13 and 14, in addition to the playing options.  The difficulty of the holes hasn't been tempered much, however.  The tee shot on 14 is no longer blind, but still deceiving, as the golfer from the tee fails to appreciate how much room is available on the far side of the fairway.

[Bill Brightly]

Hole 16 tee shot


Approach




The steepness of the hill repels many balls, making this pitch very common

[Bill Brightly]

Short, Hole 17



Viewed from the 6th tee, 16th green in the foreground

[Bill Brightly]

Sorry about the photo quality of hole 18, a very cool home hole with a classic two-tier green





Look back on 18, the view you have from the clubhouse...

[Bill Brightly]

Hole 1 is classic Macdonald. The green complex is so simple yet stunning. I walked away (with a double...) and thought that this hole had a profound and lasting effect on Raynor as he was learning his craft at the side of CBM.  Looks simple enough from the tee...



But as you approach your ball to hit your second shot, you realize what you are up against...

[Bill Brightly]

Hole 2, a rather straightforward short par 4 with a devilsh green. I paid the price for missing the fairway in the right rough, leaving a 9 iron from thick rough to a firm green...




I had to carry the right greenside bunker, pulled it slightly and it bounded into the back left bunker



Located on a flat, uninteresting part of the property,Hole 3 is the only bland hole on the course. CBM would probably describe it a breather hole.

[Bill Brightly]

Hole 4 is Eden. It is a solid uphill test and putts down the hill are treacherous (as they should be on a proper Eden...) Sorry for the poor photo quality, we were running out of daylight at this point in the round. (Shoutgun start.) However, I think you can see a strong resemblance to this hole and the Eden that Raynor would later build at Carmargo.

[SPDB]

More evidence of positive work at the Creek and a sad reminder of how long it has been since I've played this course. The tree clearing on 3 looks great (I had actually heard that they had some help from some of the storms that passed through the area in the past year). The bunker short right on 4 is definitely new, does anybody know when/who put it (back) in?