Niall
My thread asked a question.
As for mental fatigue I totally agree but usually that is actually more associated with the onset of physical fatigue first, but not necessary on every occasion.
As for the use of energy, I was seeking a more subtle way of milking the golfer’s energy, not necessary by falling back on to mountains, hills & climbing Holes. The usage of the design to force the player to thread his way through a course, which was far more applicable with the limited travel of say the gutty. Today we eliminate many ground hazards by utilising technology in ball and clubs to fly over the course with lengths circa 300yds plus rendering much of the course redundant except for the duffers.
But then perhaps subtle went out with the baby and bathwater when easy became the unspoken word in design.
Energy is a factor that seems to be ignored these days – be it because of the long aerial game or the unwillingness by designers/owners (and even the governing body) to pull this part of the game back to make our courses far more of a challenge (and less expensive). However by introducing the cart we automatically open the doors to saving energy which some believe allows more chance for the development of skill.
Skill in my book comes from a natural talent or more normally from honest repetitive hard work (perhaps aided by a little natural talent). It does not come from robbing part of the game to save energy in the hope of concentrating on developing skill. I thought that at the heart of skill is the commitment to playing the game, not just the bits you like and discarding as irrelevant those that you do not.
Did earlier golfers actually make it their business to force the golfer to navigate a course, you bet they did, one way was the later placement of fairway bunkers months after the course opened to forcing the play to recalculate their shots, the inclusion of walls, turf dykes, mounds etc., none for climbing but a deterrent for the easy straight shot, as in sailing when tacking. Subtle both in mind and body. However the aerial game has put pay to that, alas IMHO not through skill but the ability to hit a long ball which I believe is not down to skill.
I sometimes wonder why we seem to dismiss the intelligence of past generations. Perhaps it may be down to our own generation’s inability to believe that in some ways our predecessors may have known better because they took the time to fully understand what they were doing.
Melvyn