I still don't understand the fascination with this. It's like saying that someday "Paint by Numbers" [does that still exist?] will produce art that rivals Picasso's.
And what's all this talk about grade stakes? I'd much rather have a guy who can feel whether it's 2% or 4% by the seat of his pants on the equipment. And I don't mind checking the grades in the field to be sure ... it's still the only way I know to be sure that everything ties in with the surrounds.
Tom...you mean to tell me you don't shoot 10' grids of your greens to check slopes?
Well, to tell the truth, I don't either.
It can be kind of like a put.....if I walk around it enough and it looks like it breaks from any angle, then I assume its flat or level.
Then I just create a buried elephant mound to make sure the water runs off....the bigger the elephant, the greater the % slope.
Its simple really.....one can over think this design stuff.