Niall
The problem with championship courses is they only host championships once in a blue moon yet the championship test conditions persist everyday regardless of weather. I don't know how good a player you are, but there are plenty of second tier courses which are more than test for all but the best of players. The more extreme conditions or terrain is, the more width is necessary. There are far and few championship courses which pull of the double act of being a challenge for the best players and very playable for the club player.
I have never, ever worried that a course was too easy, but I have seen more than a good amount of courses that are too difficult.
Ciao
Sean
Championship courses get toughened up for when the big boys come to town and that is only to be expected. Of the championship courses near me I would say that all of them go back to what they were after the Open, Open Qualifier, Amateur or whatever has been and gone. On a day to day basis they are all playable but still a good test of golf. Just because the average golfer isn't going to get as close to par as he would on his home course is because of the test of golf not lack of width.
I'm a 10 handicap, was a 9 handicapper until the start of the season, so I am not one of those first class macho golfers who only want it tough. I too agree that often the second or indeed third tier courses can be more fun but thats usually for other reasons rather than playability or width. IMHO excessive width can make the game dull. We all need to have challenges otherwise we could just hit balls into an empty field.
Niall
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Niall
I am not talking about excessive width. I am talking about necessary width if the game is to be enjoyed. I am thinking of the last few proper championship courses I played and I thought Portrush, Muirfield and Birkdale were too narrow. Turnberry is the only championship course I have seen in the past few years that offered enough space to play the game properly if the wind was up and boy was it up.
To be fair, sometimes the rough or man-made architecture is not the culprit. The large dunes we love to play golf through so much are double edged sword. They create great interest and beauty, but they can also overly restrict the field of play if holes are routed down valley especially on predominately cross wind holes. When the wind gets up to 30ish places like Hillside, Burnham and Aberdeen can become nasty places to play because 30 yard fairways can't accommodate 30mph cross winds. The result is a game slowed down by hunting in rough up dune sides and if you are lucky enough to find the ball its a hack job with a horrific lie and stance - often times from within five yards of a narrow fairway.
Additionally, a place like Birkdale has many dogleg holes on crosswind holes. If the wind gets up these shots become stupid.
I am not asking for easy golf. I am asking for the architecture to properly take into account the weather conditions that can occur. Yes, this means that on calm days the course is relatively easy, but there isn't a course I mentioned that I worry about guys tearing it up no matter if there is no wind. Of course, I never worry about that anyway. I am more concerned about the balance of challenge, fun, variety and speed of play. IMO, nearly all championship courses fail to obtain this balance. This is why when I come across a championship course which properly caters to all golfers in this manner that I am terribly impressed - they are a very rare breed.
Ciao