Ok,
so I've only ever played the Shore just the once and I freely admit to being in awe of both my host
and the eedjit he made us play with
.
My impressions were:
The course overall is lovely and Mike S's work is among my favourite new design/construction work I've seen anywhere in the world.
However, to use one of my (in)famous tortured analogies, I definitely remember having a feeling of some bi-polarity, coupled with a tinge of schizophrenia all smeared over with a not insubstantial amount of paranoia.
Let me explain:
To me, there was too strong a contrast between the 'old' holes and the 'new' holes. Very much reminded me for example of say, The EDEN
(Bob, I'm sure you'll understand!)
I don't mind when a golf course displays mutiple personalities, but I do prefer a more 'singular' feeling. Of course, I like the 'every hole having a character of its own' philosophy, but I also enjoy a course displaying a certain 'one-ness' of execution.
Let me re-state though, the Shore has some CRACKING GOOD GOLF HOLES and is soooo worthy of most hearty appreciation. A very fitting epitaph. Long may it prosper.
cheers,
FBD.