I'm hesitant to weigh in here, as a member of Pumpkin Ridge I am decidedly biased, but here goes....
I believe that Witch Hollow is capable of holding any type of championship that would be played there. As was mentioned on the telecast, wetter conditions can be balanced out by tucking pins. Softer conditions would also make approaches into the tricky greens play longer, as although almost every one of the greens is accessible on the ground, some of the run-up areas can be quite soft, even as late as mid-June.
Were the US Am or perhaps the US Mens Open to come to Witch Hollow the fairways would certainly be narrowed, which would likely come at the expense of some of the flatter areas of the fairways. While I agree that there are flat areas in almost every fairway out there some place, I disagree that the fairways lack "cant" or useful contours. The three mostly flat fairways (#4, #8 and #16) have the most dramatic green contours. The other 11 fairways have carying degrees of internal slope at certain locations which can be used to considerable advantage in positioning for the approaches.
This fact was never more dramatic, but not pointed out on the telecast, than in Annika's approach to the 18th on Sunday. The left part of that fairway (closest to the ESA) is the flattest and far and away the best side to come in from. Getting to that part of the fairway means an aggressive tee shot flirting with the hazard. Annika was too far to the right in the fairway, and that right side is significantly canted right to left. She had a hanging lie, and I'm sure the idea of pulling it into the collection area left of the green was her first concern. Those trees on the right are really quite a bit more in play than you can tell from TV.
Pumpkin Ridge and the USGA have had a "shotgun wedding" relationship from the very beginning of the Club. This is a club that has hosted 5 USGA events now, in its first 12 years of existence! The infrastructure in place, in terms of parking, space, available lodging and access within an hour radius, is just what the USGA hopes for from a host site.
However, the relationship may be about to change. It seems as is if the 06 Senior Open is as good as gone, and some of the political leadership at PR is upset that the USGA would yank that tournament after PR stepped up and held this year's Women's Open a year early. If the 06 Senior Open is moved, without some kind of concession in terms of another US Am or Women's Open, then perhaps PR would look elsewhere to host a tournament, but I don't know if it will ever come to that point...
As far as a Men's Open goes, I just don't see it happening without major revisions to the course, for many of the reasons others have mentioned. The course isn't long enough now for a men's stroke play tournament, let alone in 2011 or 2012. One of the par-3's would have to go, leading to some sort of composite course, a la Brookline. There are several narrow spots in terms of spectator movement, which aren't a big deal for the Women's Open, or perhaps even the US Am again, but would be death for a Men's Open. The course conditions in mid-June could be variable, and it would indeed be harder to get the uniform firm and fast conditions evident this week.
Witch Hollow is really a terrific match play course, as just about every hole can have every number made on it. Sure, disaster in the form of an ocean or a big blow-out bunker is not available, but there were all kinds of doubles and triples this week on just about every hole.
Even with the way the college kids drill the ball now, I think that may be the best fit for Witch Hollow. US Men's or Women's Am, Curtis Cup, Walker Cup, Women's Open--those are the ones I think Witch Hollow will be on a fairly regular rotation for. I'm just not sure the Club will turn its back on the USGA just yet...
In any event, this was one week that Witch Hollow played like most of the hard-core GCA devotees would have loved, with lots of creative options for shot-making, dry and brown conditions throughout, and an exciting finish (even thoughit's not done yet!)
Peter