John Mayhugh,
Interesting that you mentioned Mountain Lake.
Earlier this winter I played Seminole then drove to Mountain Lake to join Mike Sweeney and his gang.
What a pleasant surprise. (not Sweeney)
I loved the place and the golf course.
It was "sporty". Fun, yet challenging.
Again, the kind of course you could play every day, despite what Wayno thinks of CBM-SR-CB courses.
My ultimate test for a golf course is as follows:
Do I want to return to the 1st tee after I've just walked off # 18 green ?
Seminole, Maidstone, Mountain Lake, NGLA, Hidden Creek, The Creek, Piping Rock, Yale, Hollywood, Pine Tree, GCGC, Cypress Point and many, many other courses pass that test for me.
Others, while a great experience and perhaps a great golf course, don't evoke that desire, that desire to play the course, day in and day out, with 36 a day if possible.
Interestingly enough, the first time I played Merion I loved it, except for the incredibly penal rough. I also thought that the fairways were too narrow given the difficulty of the rough.
While I wanted to play it again, the overly penal rough took a lot of the FUN out of the golf course.
I thought to myself, this is a great golf course, but, playing it every day has to take its toll.
Now I love WFW, Oakmont and other championship tests, but, I don't love them enough to want to play 36 a day, every day.
Shinnecock might be the exception for a championship course.
Whereas, I could easily do that at the other courses I mentioned.