Curtis Strange was letting off steam! The Old Course is a very interesting and enjoyable golf course but what's so earth-shattering about holes 8, 9 and 10, I'd like to know? Perhaps, those holes teach budding architects that all they need to know about making a golf hole is find a piece of flat ground, mark a spot from where to tee off and stick a flag in a hole in the ground anything from 200 to 350-yards away. If I am missing something, I guess I'll have to play The Old Course more than three times to begin appreciating it more? The town, its other (great) courses, as well as 'tradition,' all combine to make St. Andrew's unique. It's the history and the ambiance more than anything else that makes it so special. The familiarity, the presence of the R&A - the ruling body of golf, and knowing you are walking in the footsteps of legends, all make St. Andrew's what it is far more than any of its architectural tricks of nature. If I were a young architect I would spend as much of my time on The New Course, then I'd go to Crail, Panmure, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Monifeith, Montrose, Gullane, Dunbar to name a few. Every golf course is unique and has something individual to offer. American golf architecture has nothing to be ashamed of - especially the older stuff. Merion and Pine Valley are as good as you'll get anywhere, not to mention Shinnecock and several others.