Matt,
The reason I am not a huge fan of the ponds is because I do not think the course needs them, although Kidd absolutely makes strategic use of them.
The water in Kidd corner would probably have been ESA anyways which results in the same punishment but it may have looked superior aesthetically.
I think Kidd did a great job melding Tetherow with the environment, which I discussed in detail in my first Tetherow post, but the water took something away IMO - it just seemed out of place with the high desert links feel of the place.
Although, it was about 100 degrees when I walked the course so I certainly did feel like jumping in the one on the back nine.
It would be really interesting to get some insight from the architect on why he chose to use them.
Shifting a discussion from water influencing 4 holes on a high desert course to a discussion of the shape of tee markers seems like quite a stretch, but on this site you never know . . .