Quirky and gimmicky are titles used by many on this site. I have been wondering why for years as I do not see quirky or gimmicky. Perhaps that’s because it’s been part of our game since man started designing courses, well before other countries even knew about the game.
The early designs incorporated many features both natural and man-made to promote the development of skill, so not quirky or gimmicky in any way. Because you cannot see these type of Holes in your part of the world, should you label them in this way, bearing in mind many of the feature mentioned over the years are older than the majority of courses in your part of the world. Perhaps by the time your course were built tastes had changed.
Rather than label these Holes with name, would it not be more productive for GCA to embrace them within your designs, ops, sorry some of you have already said that you can’t design courses in this way anymore. Actually you can but do you want too, after all look at how many template holes are still being used, perhaps they are just less radical in the minds of the designers/owners who consider a 150 year old Hole gimmicky.
What is it with modern design, can’ think of anything else apart from surrounding Greens with a mass of bunkers or water, preferring to include templates in preference to Holes ideal/compatible with the land the course is being built upon.
In my opinion its quirky and rather gimmicky to see a course that does not a template Hole(s) or island Greens surrounded by either sand or water.
But then that’s just my opinion, be it right or wrong, who knows it’s all down to individual taste - now is that not quirky perhaps verging on the gimmicky.
Melvyn