Sometimes I wonder why I bother, though. This discussion was entirely one-sided, with most people gushing over a golf hole they have never seen, and I thought it was fair for someone who had seen it to play Devil's Advocate.
In truth, particularly as it relates to par-3 holes, it is most often simply the raw setting of a hole that makes us like it or not.
Tom D,
Do bother. You for better or worse earned early notariety for your outspokenness, and have backed it up. If you don't, how can the rest of us armchair critics bring any semblance of reason to discusions such as these.
AS for the second part I edited, that is the beauty of a par three, you have a tee and a target, the best holes have ground strategy, the rest is candy, that is why there are so many photogenic "poster" par 3's that become rote. But Par 3's can be the most fun of all holes because the tee shot has no leeway, you cannot make up for incomplete execution of your choice on a par 3 in hte same way that you can on a 4 or 5.
But, the effusive praise based soley on pictures for most of the posters given the comments on this site previously regarding such a faux pas is laughable. Get real fellas. Same bunch of guys who discussed aesthetics on Rees Jones before?
That paragraph is not a negative or derogatory post about Friar's Head, so don't even get an inkling of that idea. (Tom Paul read this post ten times before lambasting me and writing another 800 word tome without reading it before hitting post.)
Question for those previously on site:
Can you get a glimpse of the green prior to arriving on the tee in the normal rotation of holes? If not, what is the "strategy" of a massive green with a blind pin and just guessing at where it is (as has been implied)? I love the rub of the green, quirk and uncertainty as much as anyone, but if only the caddy knows and tells you to hit a "knock-down 7-iron", is that strategy?
A/t TEP , G Shack said:
"Options, risks, mental dilemmas, decisions, mystery solving, intelligence, bravery. That's what strategy is all about." Sometimes strategy involves multiple shots, on a par 3, you have but a single shot.
I offer further thoughts on strategy:
Using strategy is determining options and relative risk/reward of each. Ground contours determine par 3 strategy as much as anything as there become choices to reach a particular spot. If you don't have any idea where that spot is it is a fun and perplexing challenge, but a very shaded meaning of strategy as little skill is required to guess a position and a distance with no hints (If pin is undeterminable on a green 18k ft2). Right pins, if visible show hints as to distance as I understand it?
#10 Friar's Head appears unmatched in FLEXIBILITY, sometimes a part of STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY, but does flexibility imply strategy simply on its own? What percentage of strategy is lock? Are they antithetical?
Quoting from the first post:
variable strategies on that hole? Choices?
that sort of elastic strategy at both ends? Flexibility?
Quirkiness? Yes. I can envision Tommy Naccarato rolling around on both the tee and green.
Great betting hole and a great addition to architecture. You'll never wear out that green. I would imagine always looking forward to such a hole.