Steve,
No nerve touching here -- my knee has had enough of that recently!
And I certainly appreciate your opinion -- it would be fun to play sometime and then discuss a course over dinner and a few.
Seriously, what I am trying to get across is my philosophy on why the routing is the way it is. Whether you or others find the back easier is irrelevant -- I look for the best rhythm and flow, not a build to the most demanding finish. Maybe I am just not getting your point.
As to a better finishing hole, rarely is a par 3 optimal (Garden City is quite a hole, but it is the only one that I can think of that I really like that is a par 3 18th). At Kingsley, the 9th can be easy if you hit a great tee shot or recovery, or it can be brutally hard if you get in the wrong spot. On 18, a medium (400 yard) par four, you have a number of options and need to execute, but your margin of error is not quite as small as on 9. The safer drive is to the right side of the fairway, but that generally leads to an all-carry approach over trouble (although a finely punched mid-iron can thread the needle on the approach and work its way to the front or middle of the green -- a really fun shot when you pull it off!) and the riskier drive to the left could leave a better angle on the approach or give you a hanging lie. The beauty of it is that you make a choice and if you don't execute, you get the opportunity to pull it off with a great recovery -- I think that is the sign of a fun and strategic hole.
As for a playoff, we can do that on #9, #18, or to the practice chipping green at Kingsley. Both 9 and 18 have good gallery viewing from the clubhouse and that is nice. For club events, we have used the ninth for playoffs on several occasions and it is great fun, choosing different tees and pins for continuing playoffs.
Discussions such as these are great food for the soul and what GCA relishes.