Mike,
Do you write these posts with an idea of being controversial or do you really believe the things you write? I don't think 18 at Philmont is a difficult hole at all, first or approach. Mike, it is 343 yards and straight away. The trees encroach like many of the holes, but I fail to see where a perfect drive is required. Anything in the fairway suffices. Yes, there's a cant to the fairway but it isn't that great, maybe 8 percent or so. A draw helps but a straight shot with a five iron up the left side is all that is required off the tee and you say a perfect drive is needed? Nonsense. The 18th green is not much of a challenge either as it is wide open in the front and the greenside bunkering is not penal. As you say, it is a scoring hole, but for a very wide spectrum of classes of golfers.
Philmont North 18th tee shot:
The 18th at Huntingdon Valley is one of the best finishing holes in the area and as you know the district is replete with great final holes.
"But, you can be left or right in the fairway on the drive. Of course, you still have a challenging second."
You can be left or right in any fairway or in the rough or trees for that matter. All holes are like this. But the interplay of the angles of the tee shot and fairway lines is automatically more interesting than a straight shot and the angles at HVCC are terrific. The slope of the HVCC fairway is much more severe than at Philmont North so a far more precise shot is required to hold the correct side of the fairway. The correct side is very much dictated by the pin position. The HVCC green is far more difficult than that of HVCC. It is a much more challenging approach to the green in general and even more difficult to position the ball in the correct location on the green.
The tee shot forward of the forward tees, the rear tees are probably 150+ yards behind this vantage. Flynn's design had seven bunkers on the hillside at the corner of the turn, only three remain today; it was even more intimidating in its original form:
Philmont puts more pressure on the tee shot? How can you say that? HVCC is 434 yards uphill and a sharp dogleg. It plays considerably longer than the scorecard length. The angles and topography are much more difficult.
The approach to 18 green at HVCC from Ran's review:
No shot on Philmont North's 18th hole is comparable in difficulty (accuracy or length) as that of Huntingdon Valley. That includes tee shot, approach shot, putts and recovery shots.
As you say, Flynn (or whomever) had to fit the course into the available land. The clubhouse was fixed so the routing was limited. It shows mostly in the holes that leave and return to the clubhouse. That was the demand, not the tee shot on 18.