Because I played one of the courses mentioned, i.e. Crystal Downs, and thought the opening three holes "the most challenging but eminently fair opening holes" I've played, I found myself thinking this:
That I scored on those three holes exactly what a golfer of my skill level should expect to score on those three holes, and that the (better) golfer I played with scored proportionally and commensurately better; and that, while they were indeed three challenging holes, there was not one shot I faced over that span that I thought beyond my skill level our outside of my skill set, nor did any of those three holes rob me (while standing on the tees) of the hope that I could score better than I had any reasonable right to expect -- and so in those two senses the three holes were also eminently fair (as was the course).
I'd imagine that, over the decades of play there, this has held true for CD -- that a scratch/very good player will be hard pressed to shoot a very good score (i.e. at or better than his handicap), but that an average player will never come off 18 feeling that he's been beaten up.
Peter
PS Duh - just realized that Pat's asking about the 1st hole on 3 courses, not the first 3 holes on 1 course.