Hmmm... since my name was mentioned I oughtta respond.
Dave, please believe that for my puny game, Rustic holds all the challenge I personally need off the tee. BUT... I once was fairly decent at this game, and I've played a lot of competitive golf with a lot of great players, so I feel I understand the mindset of the big hitters / great players.
And thus yes, I understand exactly what Dave W. is saying, and I do agree with him. Matt has said basically the same thing.
I think you nailed it in your last post. The issue isn't so much that the big hitter can whack away without fear of penalty - oh yes, Rustic is pretty darn good at revealing that although he might not think he's received a penalty, he might end up with the "wrong" angle into many greens, which is not readily apparent. BUT - you nail it when you say that others have mentioned that with this lack of fear, they can hit it so far that the clubs they have in are then so short, yeah they might have a worse angle, but it doesn't matter much... give these guys 8 iron or less, with today's high-spinning, soft-landing golf ball, and it doesn't matter what the angle is - UNLESS THE COURSE IS VERY FIRM.
That last part is in all caps on purpose. IF the course is kept very firm and very fast (like Wild Horse!), then the angles matter -a lot. Unfortunately Rustic isn't kept that way, for many very understandable reasons. Oh, it's not the soft lush green mush we get up here, ever, from what I gather... but there's no "screaming fast" fear-inducing cement such as they have at Wild Horse. Make it like that and then you have something!
But since it's not like that, well... Dave W. and Matt W. are right, by my take.
So my answer to your question posed in the title is therefore:
YES, if conditions are right. Using Rustic as the example, bring it up to really firm and fast, and then the big hitters should be thinking more off the tee, since they're gonna need to find the right angles in. Thus challenge and strategy do co-exist, very well.
BTW, #18 at TOC, well... it's a better angle in from the left, but it's not like it's HUGELY so... the shot is tough over the Valley of Sin regardless of the angle. So yes, aiming at the clock on the R&A clubhouse is the play, but it's not like you're cursing fate if you end up farther right... Maybe Darren can weigh in on this.
TH