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The Time Between Shot And Result Is The Key
John Kirk:
I believe the most exciting shots in golf are the ones we wait the longest time to ascertain the result. This applies to both long and short shots, sometimes in different ways:
Everyone enjoys and admires a powerful drive. It flies for a long time, and in many cases, rolls for several seconds before coming to rest. But if the drive is clearly in good shape, the anticipation of result is diminished, and the attention turns to the next play.
The same holds for approach shots. A high shot in the direction of the flagstick or green is interesting as it flies, and all eyes await the final result. But balls that immediately come to rest on a soft green are somewhat of a visual disappointment.
A drive or approach shot that disappears from sight holds our attention for a long time, as we anticipate the result for the entire walk until sighting the ball. That's why I would make the case for the occasional blind shot off the tee. Even a poor shot on any hole which disappears from sight evokes plenty of apprehension, or excitement, until the result is determined.
If the wind is blowing, then airborne shots are more interesting to follow, as we anticipate the wind's effect on the shot.
But shots along the ground are subject to more variation, and are of great interest. To me, the most exciting shot to watch in golf is a putt or short shot that takes a very long time to arrive at the hole. Nothing is better than a putt that rolls for 10 seconds and goes in. That's why most here like fast greens with sloped surfaces. And we like undulating chipping areas with firm turf, so we can see our shots roll out for a long time.
This also can explain why I don't like my ball to fly OB, or in a water hazard. It's gone; the fun ends abruptly.
I thought this weekend about trying to develop my own little unified theory about golf course design, based on my belief that the excitement in golf is the anticipation of watching your ball come to rest, and the longer, the better. Of course, there are some limitations. Tapping a 3 footer downhill, and watching it trickle for 10 seconds 40 feet long would be exciting, but in a very aggravating way. Some finesse is involved to make the game exciting, yet playable in a reasonable amount of time with appropriate difficulty. That's where the artistry lies.
Is the course attractive? Important. Does the course offer me different playing options, and encourage me to hit different shots? Really important. But the greatest joy occurs between the stroke and the result, and the longer it takes, the better.
Tom_Doak:
John:
A well-postulated, unified theory.
One corollary is that "firm and fast" is always superior according to this theory.
Doug Siebert:
That's a very original and insightful idea! As much fun as it is to watch a perfectly struck drive splitting the fairway fly, I do tend to turn away from them before they are even at their apex if I know its going to be in a good lie in the short grass when it ends up, either due to soft or level fairways.
I might argue that an approach that covers the flag and sticks within a foot or two does elicit a lingering look after it has stopped, whether hit by myself or by others, but maybe that's just because they are not particularly common, at least for me (Tiger probably lets Steve watch 'em for him) Perhaps your point does still play into it because sometimes you'll see a ball that looks like it is 6" away end up being 12 feet away as you walk towards it and it slowly and depressingly leaves tap in range and moves past short putt and into medium range territory! :-\
This is another point in favored of the rippled fairways look, because you gotta watch it land and bounce to make sure it stays on line, and even after it settles you sometimes suffer the same perspective problems that make those 12 footers look like tap ins, so you aren't quite sure how far you have left or what sort of stance you'll be playing from until you get pretty close to it. Much more exciting than dropping drives down on the little colored 100 and 150 yard sticks some courses plant next to the yardage markers in the center of the fairway to make club selection easier on cartpath-only courses. Kind of takes the anticipation out of it if I already know the club I'm using for my approach before I've picked up my tee!!!
TEPaul:
Excellent post. Personally, I couldn't agree more. The fact that we live in a world of increasing "instant gratification" probably induces us to want everything "right in front of us" and to happen sooner rather than later. Max Behr did a short but excellent article on the benefits of blindness in golf architecture as a functional way of preventing increasing "instant gratification" as well as forcing golfers to trust their swings and their senses when hitting shots unaided by total visibility.
The ball running along the ground in various directions and sometimes taking it's sweet time about it is a wonderful thing indeed and too little seen today. If that massively breaking, slow rolling chip of Tiger Woods on the 16h hole of the Masters is not the best evidence of that I can't imagine what could be!
George Pazin:
Very unique way of looking at it.
To further illustrate Tom D's theory, with F&F conditions, even a seemingly beautiful drive can bound into trouble, so you would be less likely to just bend down and grab your tee.
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