Jeff,
You pose some interesting questions, real dilemas to today's architects
How can those who constantly champion wider fairways to promote angles and options not endorse wide fairways for the longer driver, contradicting many of the classic architects ?
I don't believe any of those classic designers ever phantomed the CARRY distances achieved by today's golfers.
In light of high tech producing straighter, longer drives, shouldn't there be a greater need to place a premium on driving accuracy ? A need through golf course design to offset or counter the advances in technology which produce longer, straighter drives ?
Many support the theory that the primary defense of the hole should be at the green, but high tech has defeated many of those defenses as well. Clubs that have low centers of gravity, perimeter weight, and balls that have high spin rates combine to make the aerial assault undefensible, even for the most difficult pin positions.
Perhaps the answer lies in a return to more penal golf, a return to hazards within the lines of play for all levels of golfers.
In order to appeal to a broader base it appears that golf in the U.S. has gravitated toward inserting the element of fairness and predictability, perhaps it is time to reverse that trend.
I'm not interested in making the game easier, for any level of golfer, in order to appeal to and attract more people to the game. For the record, I feel the same way about not transforming chess into checkers.
Perhaps the answer lies in the concept of target golf with options. An example of this might be the 8th hole at NGLA.
In order to address Jeff's questions, I would ask, should better golfers be subjected to a more severe test in driving
the golf ball ? Or should all level of golfers be provided with the same test ? And, at the play on most golf courses
doesn't risk/reward increase as one's handicap lowers ?
Jeff, is a 28 handicap capable of determining risk/reward and secondly, if they could, could they execute the shot with any degree of certainty ?
I think the above question would lead one to the conclusion that the lower the handicap, the more severe the test, and therefore a premium on driving accuracy should be placed on the LONG ball.
But, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.