Sean
I’m disappointed you want to close down the debate but as you’ve allowed me the final word let me comment.
“Every course offers plenty of options of length so that is a poor measure of strategy.”
What I actually said in my earlier post was that there are plenty of decisions to be made at Troon on line and length. In other words you have to think about where you want to try and put the ball. As an example a common feature at Troon is the off-set tees such that you are hitting the fairway at an angle.
Clearly in those instances you have to think about how much of “the corner” you want to cut and that will depend on your ability, form on any given day, and the advantage gained relative to the potential downside of missing the shot. Or as one well-known denizen of this site put it in describing strategy “…serious golfers use advance planning of shots to maximize success. Identifying the smartest shots and the most "favorable positions" to aim for, in the context of your own ability and situation, is the essence of strategy.”
As I’ve said before, hitting a fairway at an angle also effectively widens the available landing area. There are other instances of line and length as below.
“If you can't see how a 30 yard fairway between bunkers isn't more penal than a 45 yard fairway working around a bunker(s) than what is the point?”
When you refer to penal above, I’m not sure whether you are referring to the bunkers in the context of the hole or the nature of the bunkers themselves. I’ll assume the former.
I also assume the centreline bunker is an oblique reference to the fourth at Woking so let’s use that as an example. The bunkers at Woking provide a number of options, namely play left (easier drive, harder second), play right (harder drive, easier second), play short (easiest drive, potentially easier second than playing left off the tee but probably longer shot) and play long (potentially hardest drive, and potentially easiest second). That’s quite a few well defined options.
Compare this to left and right fairway bunkers 30 yards apart as you describe, which in conjunction with left and right bunkers at the green, is a classic Braid design.
Ignoring other variables such as contours etc if the pin placement is left half of the green then clearly an approach from the right is best and vice versa. In either scenario one of the fairway bunkers needs to be negotiated to achieve a favoured angle for the approach with the options to achieve this being short (left or right as the case may be), adjacent (left or right as the case may be), or long (left or right as the case may be). The safer option off the tee might be more towards the middle and short. Again, there are quite a few options.
While the options at Woking might be clearer defined and more stark, the “Braid” design also offers a number of options therefore can be seen to be strategic also. The Braid options might be less stark but they are there nonetheless. Even a centre pin position offers the option of a lay-up versus taking on the bunkers and having a shorter approach.
Neither drive is risk free in either design. I don’t know the exact dimensions at Woking but let’s assume the bunkers combined are 5 yards wide, then that leaves 40 yards of fairway. Assuming the right hand portion is 15 yards wide then that leaves 25 yards on the left. As I remember it if you go left the ball kicks away towards the rough, thereby effectively narrowing the left hand route further. Is that less penal than 30 yards of fairway between two bunkers ? You can argue the toss either way.
“…and that is without even mentioning fairway width...which I argue is meaningless in terms of strategy at 30 yards wide because hardly anybody is good enough to be "choosing" sides of fairways when they are that narrow given the potential penalty for missing the fairway at Troon.”
You refer to fairway while I tend to think of playing corridor ie. fairway and semi or first cut of rough. You also refer to potential penalty for missing the fairway. I’ve no idea what the fairway widths were during the Open but I imagine that they varied (as they should) but wouldn’t argue with 30 yards. The width of the rough before you got into the bundi also varies (as it should also) but I’d suggest that you could get 5 to 10 yards in places, or to put it another way 40 to 60 yards for the playing corridor.
Even though it was the Open the rough wasn’t brutal, but really the difficulty of the rough is mainly a function of the weather. Often just off the fairway isn’t actually a penalty and I’m sure I’m not the only golfer who at times has been happy to see his ball run off the fairway on a links knowing he’d get a fluffier lie. I don’t know how many rounds I’ve played at Troon but I’m sure in many of them I’ve not lost a ball. In fact my lost ball count would be no worse than at CS or Dornoch.
Troon v Prestwick
Prestwick is a fine old course with features you don’t see on more modern courses. A number of its holes are indeed iconic. However to suggest that the only iconic hole at Troon is the Postage Stamp is a bit silly. The Railway Hole has already reached that status and arguably the 10th has as well, and there are a number of other memorable holes (Ran mentioned the 7th although I don’t think it the best).
Simply put I don’t recognise your characterisation of what is a top class links. I think I’m right in saying you’ve only played it once or twice, and then not for a number of years. I honestly think you should give it another go and I’d be surprised if you didn’t change your opinion of the course if you did.
Niall