Would anyone propose to SLOW down the green speeds? Very interesting points made by Tim Liddy at the Midwest mashie on that topic.
TS
Ted:
We as architects don't get to set up the courses. The Tour does that.
The only time they make the greens slower is when they are playing an older course where the greens have significant contour, and haven't been flattened by Rees Jones yet. Westchester was one such event. I do think part of the reason the pros didn't shoot -30 there was that the greens were slower than what they are used to, and they had trouble adjusting to the different speed.
But, if you were building a new course, the Tour would hand you a set of "guidelines" that preclude having a slope of more than 2.25% in the areas where they will set the holes, so that they can have the greens rolling at 13.
I do have some ideas on what I would do ... in fact, I am refining them right now as it's possible the day will come when I get a chance to try them out. But if I do get the job, the toughest part will be getting the Tour to let me do anything that makes a difference. In the end, they seem not to really WANT anybody to figure it out.