Very interesting, Ed. Wished I'd played RCD to be able to comment directly.
Tom...interesting point on 10 at Riviera. I don't know if this quote from Ran's review fits in with Bart's questions...but there is no doubt it is worth a read. Here is Ran's write up on 10 at Riviera...
Tenth hole, 315/300 yards; The pinnacle of golf course architecture may well be this hole. You don’t have to be a genius like Thomas to figure out what hole was fresh in his mind as he penned these words: ‘By reducing the size of the green, by tilting it up from one side to the other, or back or front, so as to require a placement on the drive for a shot which can be played toward the higher part, by making it narrow and long with the opening opposite the carrying trap, it is easy to insist on a fine shot to make the second one reasonably possible.’ Like the eighteenth at Pebble Beach, the tenth has benefited from advances in technology. Today, the distance makes it so tempting, so beguiling that many more tiger golfers have a go at the green. Indeed, 72% went for the green over four days during the 2008 Nissan Open. Some even gear down to a three wood because the left front edge is ‘only’ 295 yards from the tee. This bewitching option creates great drama. While the hole might be driven and eagle putts holed, the failed tee shot is often very much out of position. Only 4% who attempted to do so reached the green leaving 96% with some sort of a recovery shot. A hole without peer, the tenth’s strategy is crystallized by the angle of the green’s spine relative to the tee and the narrow putting surface which slopes away. Golfers lured into going directly for the flag are almost always thwarted by this devilish combination. The golfer who plays left and well away from the green gains the best angle down the length of the green making its tilt less problematic. Knowledgeable men gasp in the horror at tee shots flared/missed to the right, such is the negative bias that Thomas created from over there. A tip of the hat to George Crump and his twelfth hole at Pine Valley with its runaway green perpendicular to the tee is deserved in helping Thomas formulate this hole of outstanding merit.