Jason,
I'll put it simply for you-I LIKE TO SEE ALL THE OPTIONS IN FRONT OF ME. I like the fault to be on me if the golf shot isn't what I planned it to be, not some well struck shot that gets rejected because of a burried elephant, rolls down an hill in into the woods...I like to see what I'm hitting at...make sense?
Tony:
While I don't like to speak in metaphors I think abstraction may assist developing your gca thought process.
Golf is not a game that you can control and, the golfing experience, including score, is a direct result of man's interaction with nature, not man's dominion there of.
Like life, there are good intentions that go awry and missteps nevertheless rewarded. You should learn about a great golf course every time you play her, and, like life, you should become wiser for the wear.
If a course's merit is all there "in front of you" it's misguided in its simplicity. It's simple because it wants the sophistication that requires intimate knowledge of a course to see all its faces. And its misguided b/c as a simplistic design it takes from you what could have otherwise been a rewarding interactive experience between the will of man and the vagaries of nature.
Under your idea of gca merit you zero out nature and wander aimlessly through fairways of mediocrity filled with the illusion of control and constantly frustrated with the results of your game since all misfortunes were yours to prevent, initially.
From the sounds of it, Tony, you didn't score well at Cusco. b/c it was tough conditions and you didn't know the nooks and crannies there and you walked away frustrated at your inability to control your environment. That is exactly what she's supposed to do and the only breakdown in the process was that you didn't realize it . . .
Jason