character.
With increased distance, which allows the golfer to thwart the architect's challenge and defenses, more and more people are claiming that you have to defend the hole/par/course at the green end, with faster and firmer greens.
But, in order to get greens really fast, you have to eliminate contour and slope, two of the primary factors for establishing the character of the greens.
By putting pressure on the greens to defend the hole/par/course, you're creating the seeds of their destruction, as you can only do that by making them firmer and faster and the only way you can make them really fast is to flatten them.
So, don't look at the distance problem solely from the tee end.