Eric, I think you need to play this hole to understand.
The pin Mark refers to can only really be accessed from inside 80 yards. Even the best approach outside that distance using the slopes short of the green will finish 25ft or so behind the hole, from where a two putt is a great achievement.
As much as I think golf would be better without par designations for each hole, if you are going to have them, it's reasonable that a hole meet certain criteria. I have seen maybe three fours in my time at Deal, and many more 6s and 7s. Distance, in this instance, is not enough to decide the par.
If that hole is called a par four, and that pin yields very few fours, even downwind, I can see where Mark is headed, that players would scream at playing a hole that is nigh on impossible to par.
Gordon: The two most enjoyable shots on that hole, IMO, are a 160-180 yard approach and a 30-50 yard approach. I seem to find regardless of the tee or wind, I get to play one or the other.