George:
You have a bias against desert golf. By all means continue with the "preference" angle / spin as long as you wish but spare me the verbal word games. I pointed out how a solitary play on Black Mesa didn't really show you how your definition of playability doesn't apply to that course. Recovery shots are possible to be played there.
If someone hits it 40-50 yards off line there are holes at Black Mesa where recoverying is possible -- in a number of other instances that would not be doable. Guess what? The same can be said for Bethpage Black, or Winged Foot / West or Oakmont or Pine Valley, Dunluce / Portrush, shall I go on?
Desert golf is not just one broad category where everything is then deemed to be the same. Those courses in the greater Scottsdale area do in fact offer limited options and are more prone to the "either or" style you speak about.
My statement that you referenced initially with your last post -- is for those select whiners who bark about playability being lacking -- is that often times architects will make such holes / courses appear harder than they are. This can impact all types of players because of the "psyche out" elements deployed. Players can either accept their own limitations - which many do -- or fall back by displacing blame to the hole / course in question, rather than look inward at themselves.
Here's another false statement -- I never said people of high handicaps were hitting as MANY ground balls as those in the air. They just do hit such shots from time to time. It's not as infrequent as you may think.
My "concept" of how differing types of people play is there George. I regularly play with people whose handicaps vary from low single digit to those close to 30. Those who are 20-30 handicap types -- and who play 4-5 times per year or in that ballpark can play to far different styles and manners. Some will hit no ground balls -- some will hit more. Some will spray a good bit -- others less so. Some are strong but have no touch -- others are weak in terms of distance but able to be better when closer to the greens.
George, enjoy whatever floats your boat.
End of story ...
Sean:
A few comments to your most recent post ...
Who said "differentiation" has "to be obvious?" Architects can be very clever in separating the elements of different shots through such a wide means and many times the player may not be aware of how such a fine line is involved.
You say such a situation is a "waste of time." Really. Sean, you erroneously claim that this is a US Open type philosophy. Wrong. I see it as a fundamental element of architecture where shots are graded by the design through their ability to hit shots of a certain type when called upon.
Great design, in my mind, is able to separate the supreme, very good, good, average, below average and poor shotmaking by any type of player through a variety of ways and playing styles. No doubt in order to have such a full range of situations the architect must think how such holes can play for such a wide variety of players. It's not easy for many modern courses because the available land can be limited and the terrain available may not be as unforgiving when held to the optimum standard of say TOC, to name just two aspects.
Sean, I don't think you get my point -- playability is a sometime defense used by certain higher handicap types when the reality is that they have not executed at a certain level. Architects can fool such players with the visual tough holes that look harder than they actually appear. In those instances when failure does happen the player can either accept the ownership of the poor result or they can fall back on the time honored golf tradition in pointing the finger at some other reason -- in this case, the specific hole or even course in its entirety.
You say multiple tees are bad. Baloney. The reality is that courses are not found with acres and acres of open space so that so-so shots from high handicap types can be handled from the mid to back tee boxes.
Keep in mind Sean, you do have people who think they can play from mid to back tees when the reality of their own limitations would suggest they play from tees up closer. The added tees can also soften the angles and carry points so that these players have an opportunity to succeed within their own limitations.