08/08/08

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Review - The Club at Morgan Hill  - Crossing just over the border provides lower rates 

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THE HC NEWS - From the moment the HC NEWS interacted with the staff at Morgan Hill we were treated expertly and we thank everyone involved for a great experience.  

During our round the boys came up with multiple adjectives to describe the course, tough and challenging, seemed to be the two that came up over and over again. Great shape and interesting also topped the list.

So let's get one thing out of the way at the start, this course is not for beginners. It is not the place to take your wife or child out for their first foray into golf. Frustration would most likely result and that is fun for no one.

If you are a golfer who enjoys a challenge and wants to further improve your game this is a place to put in your monthly golf rotation. This is not a flat and mundane Florida course. There are side hill lies, uphill lies, downhill lies, long carries, deep bunkers, multi tiered greens and wonderful vistas. There are blind tee shots, carries over water, long downhill carries, aptly placed rough and mountainous uphill tee shots.

The greens roll true. The fairways are crisp and a well struck shot is rewarded as it should be and a poorly hit shot results in bogie or better. It is a true test of golf.

You start out on what is arguably the easiest hole on the course. It is a short par five that has a downhill approach into the green. You can reach it in two and there is little trouble on either side so give it a good smack. The green has two levels. If it is up on top take another club because putting from the lower level to top is no picnic.

Turning back around the par four 2nd is almost as long as the par five first and it plays into the prevailing wind, is guarded by bunkers in the middle of the fairway and in front of the green. A large rock outcropping on the right of the green also provides the pin protection. Make a par here and you have done well.

Hole three is a long downhill par three with a green that slopes left to right. Anything right is gobbled by jungle so beware. Take a look at the yardage and hit the right club, it looks shorter than the number but it isn't.

Looking for a bit of relief on the next par four, sorry. The water on the left doesn't really come into play but you know it's there. The rocks on the far side of the pond seem to be guiding you forward on a line but beware, that line puts you left and in the junk. Take the yellow and black target flag into account and hit a bit right of it, the ball will fall back left. The approach shot is well down into the hollow but the grain on the green runs front to back and if you hit it hole high you will most likely be off the back of the green. A shot that bounces just in front and trickles on is ideal.

Par five number five. It all starts on the Tee Box. If it is set up to the right the trees on the right protect the right side, which is where you need to be. This hole plays uphill all the way. If you hit a good second you risk going in the fairway bunkers. If you back off of them you risk having a very long third to a very slim green that is protected by a deep bunker in front. Again, par here is a joy.

The Sixth hole, across the road, will seem short on the card but it plays dead up hill. You have to smack the drive to get a look at the hole, fortunately there are no bunkers in front and a low running shot can roll onto the green, and roll of the back just as easily.

The par three seventh comes down to pin position. It is down hill and a smooth swing will get you to the middle but if the pin is tucked back right over the bunker good luck getting it to that small landing area. Again this is risk reward and the risk is posting a 5 on your card. 

Turning back down the hill on 8 the hole looks simple. It is a three wood to left of the fairway bunkers, but pull your shot and you are down the ravine. Put it in the bunkers and you have a dead uphill shot. The Greenside bunker on the left is deep and hard to get out of. Two good shots and this can be a birdie hole.

The last hole on the front is a short par three guarded by bunkers in the front. Club selection is your toughest task and choose wrong and you're long.

Taking a breath at the halfway house your challenge and adventures have just begun. Hole ten runs downhill with the clubhouse directly in your eye line. There is a pond that guards the green. Hit your tee ball short and you have a downhill line that you have to get up and over the water. One of the playing partners dunked one and had to swipe again. Playing it safe there is a lot of room on the left side of the green.

Eleven puts you in front of a long vista of the town of Easton. The Tee Shot is blind and the fairway looks as wide as a number two leaded pencil. Two of us ended up right and there is a bunker over there you don't want to visit. Hit the ball at the yellow and black flag, which looks far left but really isn't, and you might get that perfect flat lie, but don't count on it. The second shot is straight down, being short is much kinder than being long.

The twelfth hole keeps you cascading down the mountainside. It is a par three and with the tees playing back you can't see the flagstick, take a walk to the front lip to give yourself an idea and then swing with conviction and perhaps pray a bit also.

You have to go back up the mountain sometime and this par five starts the climb to the top. The tee shot is uphill and you feel as if you have to over swing a bit to get in contention. The fairway bunkers on the right come into play on your second but if you can get that shot just to the left of them you leave yourself a short third shot that is a bit downhill. Be careful on your third though, if you fly the green hit another because you won't find it in the thick stuff.

The par three 14th again climbs back up the hillside. It plays LONG - take a couple more clubs to get to this green. Take your 3 and go quietly as there are many 4's and 5's carded here. For the short hitter don't be bashful, take the driver and give it a rip.

Fifteen is a par five that cuts sideways across the mountain. Right from the tee you have to be thinking. There is a tree on the left that is a good aiming point but going that way leaves little chance of getting there in two. The heavier risk is to try and hit the sliver of fairway on the right but if you're too right, like yours truly, you will be in the high stuff and most likely hitting three from the tee. The second shot also has peril in its midst, pot bunkers protect the player trying to run the ball up on the ground and the steeply carved fairway tosses everything to the right. Laying up left to about 120 is prudent.

Sixteen plays long uphill. The drive, which you crush, seems to climb toward the heavens and drop short. Having 200 uphill for a second isn't unusual, take out the three wood and give it your best. When you reach the green look northwest, the view of the Easton Valley seems to go forever and you can see the wind gap far in the horizon. 

The Seventeenth Tee puts you at a wonderful vista, this time looking south, the DE River is in your view past the flagstick. This hole is straight down, put a smooth swing on the ball and you are fine, there is plenty of fairway down there even if it doesn't look like it. The green has two tiers and is protected front right by a bunker and the sharp slope.

Finally headed home you are once again faced with a blind tee shot. You are better off a bit right than left but again the black and yellow flag stick puts you right where you need to be. The green is tricky, it is shaped in sort of a half moon and there is a bunker over the grass outcropping protecting it that you cannot see. Depending on where the pin is one might consider chipping from one part of the green to another, yes that gasp is the greenskeeper hoping you don't.

When the round is done the 19th hole has dramatic views of the front 5 holes as well as a long way down the valley toward the river. The staff is friendly, the lunch menu is well suited to the golf community, a medium rare burger was done perfectly and of course the libations were cold and welcomed. It is a spot you can easily find yourself in an hour and a half after the round has been concluded.

Overall I think this is a fine place to play golf. Some leave the course muttering that it is too tough, but if you come the first time with expectations of shooting in the 70's you will probably not be beaming. If you come with the idea that you are going to get a great challenge of your skills you will enjoy it immensely. Every hole is different, tests a different part of your game and makes you think before you swing.

For those of you thinking of hosting a scramble outing this course would be ideal. They have many different packages - see the website -  http://www.theclubatmorganhill.com/sites/courses/layout9.asp?id=417&page=12395

And are willing to work with you to create original, ideas, they have one raffle that has a helicopter dropping numbered balls onto a green with the first one to go in the hole as the prize winner.

The last thing that should be noted is the price, when you cross the river into Pennsy the costs drop rapidly and this course is 2 minutes off of the first exit on 78. From Clinton you can get there in about 20 minutes if you drive 70, which is slower than everyone else. They offer different discounts on varying days of the week, check the website for that also. As a value this course is worth going to at least 6 times a season. Just remember to keep smiling, it's not supposed to be easy, golf still is a four letter word.

Right from the start we were treated wonderfully

This is the view back toward the clubhouse from the par five first hole

and the opposite view of the tricky two tiered green

The second hole is a long par four which plays back into the prevailing wind. There is a bunker in the middle of the fairway which should be avoided and there is also a bunker mid right, right in front of the green, which is blind from the second shot. If you have a long 2nd shot bail out to the left and use the hole length of the green to pitch.

This is the par 3, 3rd. Everything right is dead. The green slopes to the right so playing a left to right shot over the left edge of the green is idea. Again this is a multi tiered green so pay attention to the map on the cart as to where the hole is playing.

and there is always time to stop for a beverage with one of the great staff members.

This hole has a blind shot off the tee, though there is an aiming flag in the fairway. Take it seriously. While the pond lures you into thinking there is room down the left, there is not. 

This is the view of the second shot in. You can see that off the tee, right in this pic, is waste area. For some reason the grain on this green runs fast to the back. If you can hit is short and roll it up you can keep the ball on the green.

The tall trees on the right protect the right side, which is the proper play if you can spin the ball in that direction. Left off the tee makes this uphiller play even longer. 

Third shot in here is tough. If you have any distance take two extra clubs as the bunker in front gobbles up balls. The green is slim so play wisely.

This is the view from the middle of the fairway, clubhouse off to the left. The drive is up up up and away. Give it all you've got to get a glimpse of the pin.

  Downhill par three. road on the left, steep slope on the right. When the pin is tucked above bunker like in the pic this can be a bear. No one will blame you if you play to the middle.

A great drive carries the bunker in the middle of the fairway but if you're going for it stay right off the tree on the right. Greenside bunker is super steep.  

Take the wind into consideration here. A right to left shot starting out on the right edge of the green will make you smile.