Ahhh, routing then is the linking of holes together in sequence, bad sequence, interesting combinations, patterns, lack of patterns, changes in direction, or not, pace, lack of interest, heightened interest, weirdness, blandness, spectacle, alongside natural points, away from natural points, close to forests, through forests, above forests, (by Forrest), over stuff, onto, beside, below, and toward things. Right? I suspect it is even aligning a hole along a barbed wire fence in the southwest desert of the U.S.
Yes, I did write a book on the subject, which has only made me more interested in how others view this essential part of GCA. So far I'm impressed with about half of the points expressed in this discussion, and a few of those have been mine.
I think there are very, very few sites where one can say, "All we need to do is find the holes and all will live happily ever after." Fact is, some of the routings we hold dear are very likely luck or perhaps the very lack of any real keen knowledge of the "finer points" of routing in the first place. Some "great" routings just happened because a few holes got set and the rest had to connect them. The result of course prompts such comments as "...isn't it exceptional the way the course brings you to the edge and then away and then back...simply remarkable."
Again, Desmond Muirhead comments how it is nearly impossible to get 18-holes in your mind at one time. Juts like the analogy of the building -- we do not think of all of the hallways and spaces of a building at once because we do not experience them this way. We think only of the building as a whole by its general feel and design. To think of each space would overload our brain.
But to route -- the architect must put these spaces together in his/her mind all at once and with tremendous regard for one another and the eventual experience it will yield.