JK - even though he is wiser, kinder and infinitely more experienced in the golf industry, I have to take a different view than my friend Joe H on this. That young super isn't a naive rube who foolishly answered a question honestly; I think he is smart and ambitious and knew exactly what he was saying -- smart enough to read the tea leaves both locally and across the industry, and ambitious enough to stake his claim as someone willing to shoulder more responsibility and give golfers what they seem to want. That we might disagree with him and his approach, or that time and changing fashions/tastes might in 20 years have him wishing that he'd taken a different route doesn't mean he is wrong or misguided now. He is just in the majority and simply speaking the conventional wisdom -- traits that have led to successful careers for thousands and millions of people across hundreds of industries for many decades now.
Peter
PS - to answer your question: the opening hole at my local course is a very gentle and short Par 5 with a benign green. I would change that green by adding 3-4 feet of slope/contour and speeding it up to 11. The members would love it (I'm often paired with members, and the younger ones especially complain that the course is "too easy" and that several holes are too short.)
Ah Peter...I think if you, and everyone else, goes back and re-reads the young mans words, they will understand that he likely said what the Real Matt Shaf(f)er and most every other superintendent is doing, even if they aren't saying it......get the greens faster on special events without sacrificing plant health, and managing golfers' perceptions of what ideal green speeds are. No where does he use the term "super fast" as TD loosely interpreted. Nor did he advocate getting all greens faster all the time. How is that so wrong?
And so what if he doesn't like the 4th green at Lost Dunes? You tend to applaud the outlier, the brave ones who think different and aren't afraid to say so. But it seems you've been spending too much time in private discussions with the wrong crowd, and allowed others to influence your otherwise impeccable wisdom and perspective. (Last line entirely in jest!)
Just as we ought to appreciate that many courses are different than The Old Course, as you wisely stated, should we not also be glad that others step away from GCA groupthink and speak whats on their mind, without repercussion? Matter of fact, that's the irony of Tom Doak calling out this guy for having a contrary opinion to his own. Being outspoken ought to endear him to Tom, but apparently that's not how it works.
So....I wouldn't change a thing, other than hiring a proof reader on publicity pieces.