I had little respect for the Donald's opinion on GC architecture coming into the week, and his commentary lowered it. I actually thought he may have been moving beyond his one-dimensional aesthetic perspective when he hired the likes of Gil Hanse, but now I suspect he hired Gil as a "hot blame" rather than an appreciation of classic principles. I'll be interested in seeing Turnberry look like the K Club once Donald "fixes it."
As for my missionary work this week, there were many fronts:
For the "no rough is too easy" crowd - this one was pretty easy. If they showed a close-up of some of the lies, I'd simply ask "would you rather see him try to hit a a heroic shot through that miniature pine tree or hack a wedge to the fairway?"
For the "it looks awful" crowd - what can you do other than explain that this is what nature looks like and explain the virtues of firm & fast.
For the "these greens are ridiculous" crowd - I didn't have the strongest convictions to challenge this. I'd explain the "evolution" from Ross' original greens, and hope that C&C gets a mandate to roll back the clock.