I was surprised to hear Ian Baker-Finch glowing about Oak Hill and...

[Will Lozier]

...it's championship pedigree because - it tells you where to hit the ball.  For me, great golf holes make the best route to the green LESS OBVIOUS.  Great architecture is about options for various type of players and IBF's description, IMO, contradicts this theory.  I am a big fan of his and believe he knows his stuff when it comes to quality GCA.  I was just disappointed to here him gloat about OHCC's "one-obvious-route" reason for "great championship golf".  How far off base is he?

[Andrew Buck]

...it's championship pedigree because - it tells you where to hit the ball.  For me, great golf holes make the best route to the green LESS OBVIOUS.  Great architecture is about options for various type of players and IBF's description, IMO, contradicts this theory.  I am a big fan of his and believe he knows his stuff when it comes to quality GCA.  I was just disappointed to here him gloat about OHCC's "one-obvious-route" reason for "great championship golf".  How far off base is he?

I don't think there is anything wrong with conducting a championship on a course that is penal if you don't take the "one-obvious-route".  I wouldn't want that style to be my everyday course, nor would I want every major conducted on similar courses, but I think it's good to conduct some championships in that environment.  

On one hand, I think there is more strategy than is given credit.  Players still had to decide how aggressive they wanted to be with club selection off the tee to avoid bunkers, rough and trees.  It was Dufner's ability execute with aggressive club selection that gave him the advantage necessary to win the championship.  Also, I think many major championship courses also only offer "one-obvious-path", the difference isn't so much the variety of angles, as the ability to recover from poor execution off the tee at other venues.

I admire Phil and Tiger's ability to recover from anywhere, and there are many venues that allow for this and reward it.  I admire Stricker, Phil and Sergio's ability to putt, and there are many courses that reward that.  I don't mind an occasional championship at a course that will overly reward solid ball striking.  

[Matthew Essig]

I'm becoming sick of all these Oak Hill is poor type threads. Sorry for this rant:

While options are considered great in architecture, I find that a "one-obvious-route" type of golf course works for pro golfers.

A tournament is seeking to find who plays the best under the circumstances. If the circumstances call for precision, shot shaping, and a pure ball striker, then that is what it will take to win that given week.

As fun as it is to watch the pros play a course that makes them think and have options, it doesn't mean that this has to be the way to determine the winner. Sure, we would love to watch them play Pine Valley, NGLA, LACC, ANGC, the Bandon courses, Sebonack, etc., every week, but they could go play a muni or a par 3 course to determine who is playing the best. So what if they played a tree lined course; the guy who played the best won. Congrats to Dufner for playing better than every other player, even if it was at Oak Hill.

[Will Lozier]

I'm becoming sick of all these Oak Hill is poor type threads. Sorry for this rant:

While options are considered great in architecture, I find that a "one-obvious-route" type of golf course works for pro golfers.

A tournament is seeking to find who plays the best under the circumstances. If the circumstances call for precision, shot shaping, and a pure ball striker, then that is what it will take to win that given week.

As fun as it is to watch the pros play a course that makes them think and have options, it doesn't mean that this has to be the way to determine the winner. Sure, we would love to watch them play Pine Valley, NGLA, LACC, ANGC, the Bandon courses, Sebonack, etc., every week, but they could go play a muni or a par 3 course to determine who is playing the best. So what if they played a tree lined course; the guy who played the best won. Congrats to Dufner for playing better than every other player, even if it was at Oak Hill.

Matthew,

To me, Oak Hill did look like it has a great deal of architectural interest.  The point of this thread is to debate whether or not the statement that the course shows the player the route is a mark of a great championship test, certainly not to gripe about or bash the course.

I personally love seeing the best players in the world struggle to match par at Merion even though I thought the setup took away options that might have been less obvious and determined on a day-to-day basis due to weather conditions, course conditioning, pin placement, etc. - the USGA's approach to narrow the playing corridors and limit options.  To me, it seemed that most tee shots on the par-4's and 5's at Oak Hill with it's narrow setup involved only putting the ball in play with, as Andrew wisely pointed out, the club they can most likely achieve that with while not leaving themselves too long an approach.  There is strategy in that...just not as much as if the course was presented with more width.  Not sure I am making any sense.

Any input as to what IBF meant?

Cheers