Brock,
I have only played one of his courses out here in California. Wente Vineyards and it had a few good holes but mostly it was a fairly unimaginative course that would appeal to a pro golfer who wants to score. That is just my opinion, as there are others here who feel Wente is a pretty good course. It is not a bad course by any means, but one I just don't find to be very interesting. The greens don't have much contour (there are exceptions), the short game shots are mostly straightforward. Between the water and vineyards, there are plenty of places to have your ball out of play. There is a 300 foot elevation gain up a Lombard St. type cartpath just in case you thought it might be walkable. In Greg's defense there were some pretty severe areas of the site to contend with.
Mr. Getka,
I actually think that many of the holes at Wente are very imaginative, especially:
#6: a short, uphill par 4 with right to left fairway and severe false front on a green sitting in a high saddle
#10: Short par 4, drivable but with with cliff looming on the right, bunkers, old oak tree and native grasses left, and some interesting green contours that favor short iron approaches from the extreme left and right sides of the fairway
#13 Downhill par four that doglegs around vineyards (ob, I personally don't think there are too many obs on the course, and pace of play always seems to be fast there due to the 12-minute tee time intervals) with a drop off to a dry creek gulch on the outside, several choices for flat landing areas in the fairway that are challenged in varying degrees by bunkers, and with the green perched on the side of the hill
I do think that the finishing 4 holes are a little bland, probably because they are on the flattest pieces of the property and Norman had used up his creative juices (is this where you question his imagination?) in dealing with the more extreme tographical challenges posed elsewhere.
Just my 22 cents...
Everyone,
Has anybody played Doonbeg? I've yet to hear much about that course (I'll check for threads...)