A chore or a joy ?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Should the challenge that the game of golf and the architect present be a chore or a joy ?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Pat,
If the game is not a joy, be it casual or competitive play over whatever ground the architect gives, take up something else.

[Tom Huckaby]

It should be a little of both, with erring on the side of joy.  And that can come from VIEWS, both on the course and extending outward.  Of course the most joy comes from playing a course, but some guys like to base their assessments on photos, so if that gives them joy, that's cool also.

 

[ed_getka]

It should be a joy,  with that being derived from overcoming the challenges that the course presents.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Often great music or literature can be difficult, or taxing to appreciate. Think Joyce or Miles Davis. But the appreciation is not a chore, and can come to become a thing of joy, life enriching, even. I know I don't always have the desire to read this kind of literature, often times I might rather read an aeroplane book, or listen to the Carpenters. Which isn't to say that the Carpenters aren't great..
Personally I like variety in my life. It's great to have one's game sternly tested from time to time. Occasionally it will hold up. It can also fun to hook up with some strangers who are playing from the forward tees.
I think that there are plenty of courses that are a stern test and also a joyful experience. I wouldn't include the Black Course or Carnoustie on the list, but Ganton, Dornoch, Maidstone..

[Voytek Wilczak]

I think that there are plenty of courses that are a stern test and also a joyful experience. I wouldn't include the Black Course or Carnoustie on the list, but Ganton, Dornoch, Maidstone..

The Black... It hurts so good when it beats you.

It is joyful, but also very personal....

Golf should never be a chore.

Architects should strive to make it fun. For every type of player.

18-handicappers (myself included) have been sleeping in the Bethpage State Park parking lot long before the Black became famous.

Why?

Because playing it is a joy. Even if you par only one hole.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Don't view the question in the context that one strange equals 100 familiars.

View the play of the golf course as a daily, repetitive or patterned event.

[Lou_Duran]

A friend of mine likes to say that golf is to be enjoyed, not endured.  For the most part, courses he designs are friendly/playable from the tee, with quite a bit of challenge on the greens.  Doak and C & C seem to follow a similar approach, and I've yet to play a course they've done that I haven't enjoyed.

By contrast, I've found Robert von Hagge's and some of Pete Dye's work highly exacting and much more of a chore than a joy.  One can derive much joy by meeting a challenge and overcoming adversity.  Courses designed to be "the toughest in the  -----" are for me mostly tedious and unattractive.

[ed_getka]

Patrick,
   That is a true test of a golf course. If you play it on a regular basis and still enjoy it then it is inevitably well-designed. Many golf courses lose their appeal after a dozen rounds, or even less.

[Adam Clayman]

Patrick,
 You forgot the maintenance presentor.

I have just returned from two rounds at Prairie Dunes. The place was a textural smorsgesbord (sp) However, with the influence of Far Hills still in the rough lines, the place lacked any semblence of fun. Covering terrain, of that quality, with rough should be a violation of the rules.