NOT FOUND: morgan creek.jpgGolf courses come in many different styles. You have the links style courses you see in Ireland and Scotland with thick rough and fairways that connect to the greens and you sometimes cannot tell the difference. Resort-style courses as seen in Arizona, Nevada and Palm Springs have expansive fairways and target greens. Then you have the traditional American-style course which is more direct utilizing bunkers and undulating greens as their defenses. Rarely do you find a course that adds a little bit of all those styles into one track. However, Morgan Creek in Roseville, CA tries to do just that.
The course architect, Kyle Phillips, did an outstanding job of utilizing the existing land and not so much trying to create a course but rather allow a course to come forth out of the land he was given. The course, which opened in 2003, was private for the first six years and has become a semi-private course, meaning you can have a membership that gives you privileges and the public still has access to tee times.
The course, which ranges from 5431 yds. to 7303 yds. in length, has five sets of tees for every level of golfer. The first hole starts out with a straight forward run that leads you to believe that this design has not teeth. Beware! The greens at Morgan Creek run faster than any other I have played in the Sacramento area and they have subtle undulations that make pace of putts the most important factor when on the greens. I found this out when I three putted the first two holes! One of Morgan Creek’s best defenses is the undulations in the greens and the speed at which they play. If you aren’t ready you will be losing quite a few strokes on the holes you thought you had great opportunities to birdie or par. The level changes at Morgan Creek are not that drastic. The only places they come into play are the par 3 holes because you must be aware of the wind at the tee and the difference with the wind at the green.
Another great defense for Morgan Creek is the size and shape of their greens. They come in small postage stamp sizes as well as changing levels that give you different angles of attack and force the golfer to think twice about what shot they want to take to keep the ball on the green. Because the greens run fast, each golfer has to take into account how their ball will react when it gets to the green. This makes for a fun challenge of beating this course. That, in my opinion, is great golf.
Morgan Creek also has a great deal of bunkers that surround their greens. These come in all kinds of depths, shapes and sizes. The architect, Mr. Phillips, has placed these to make sure approach shots were at a premium on a course that truly uses the land it was given. With that he has produced a great course that forces a golfer to utilize multiple shot types and vary the style of attack to greens that change on every hole and roll true and fast. For the opportunity to challenge yourself and a first class track, give Morgan Creek Golf Club a call at 916-780-CLUB (2582). Morgan Creek Golf Club is located at 8791 Morgan Creek Lane, Roseville, CA 95747. www.morgancreekclub.com