Fasten your seat belts, and kindly refrain from knee-jerk replys.
Did the 1940-70's thinking of "Hole Isolation" cause problems that we are paying for today?
Crump did not llke parallel holes. Other architects/builders wanted to isolate holes for a variety of reasons: The Peaceful Walk in the Park Experience, Protection from Wayward Shots, etc. My own course was built on a dairy farm with very few trees. The 1921 aerial shows a links-style course with nary a tree for most of the 18 holes. The course was designed by Willie Park, Jr. who had a great deal of experience with Sunningdale which is a heathland course. He went onto create Huntercombe, another inland course.
In the 1950's, we undertook a renovation program that has pleased the members today. A lot of trees were planted that have now matured. We know that pines and willows with their shallow roots structures are bad for our wrists. We have also found that the droughts also bring the roots of the hardwoods to the surface. A soaking September with rain followed by strong hurricane storms bring the weaker of these trees down, leaving a costly clean-up/break in the treelines.
Do courses overreact in following fads/current triumphs of the time, or this pattern natural evolution?
JWK