The Greater the challenge the grander the reward.

[Tommy Williamsen]

           I was reading the thread entitled, “Golf should be a pleasure, not a penance”-Donald Ross and thought’ “Well I do like a course that is difficult.”I have a feeling we all like a challenge. In that regard we all like our golf to have some measure of difficulty. There are, however, some kinds of difficulty I do not like. Even though I am pretty straight off the tee, I really dislike courses with narrow fairways and ankle deep rough. Chopping out isn’t any fun at all. It makes the game mostly about driving. I’m not crazy about courses that have water on most holes. Taking a drop and losing a $4 ball isn’t my idea of a good time. A series of long straight par fours that only demand distance is boring. I do like a course that I can three putt because I was on the wrong side of the pin or the green is full of bumps and slope. I like a course where the shot into the green demands forethought, imagination, and skill. I like a course that rewards shots played to the correct side of the fairway and punishes off-line shots. I like deep bunkers even in the fairway where I have to plot my way around the course. I don’t mind forced carries, they are adventuresome. A few blind shots are ok, they produce a sense of anticipation as I approach the ball.

[Peter Pallotta]

Tommy - you articulated that very well, and described a course I would most enjoy playing.
But just to say: I'd imagine that a *truly* special course would be characterized by the description in your subject line, ie the greater the challenge the grander the reward.
And so I ask (because you've played many more top flight and famous courses than I have, both classic and modern): with a good course, just like the one you described, how often do you find such a "great" challenge, and the subsequent "grand" reward? Have you played many courses that you'd say rewarded you so richly for taking on a severe test so magnificently?
I mean: while I agree with (and look for) all the fine qualities you note, it's hard for me to see how anything you described above qualifies as a *great* or *grand*.
Having an easier putt because I hit the correct side of the fairway sure is *nice*, but the latter is no severe or scary test and the former sure does seen to fall a little short of grandeur.
Does any course you've played stand out in your mind as offering the great and the grand? Have you often encountered what I think used to be called a 'heroic' golf shot?
Thanks,
Peter

[Carl Rogers]

Tommy, as you state on the site that you and, myself as well, are slightly less enamored with Sweetens's Cove as many here are, but what you describe pretty well fits SC.


Is SC just a bit too much of a good thing?

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy, as you state on the site that you and, myself as well, are slightly less enamored with Sweetens's Cove as many here are, but what you describe pretty well fits SC.


Is SC just a bit too much of a good thing?

You're right, it does describe SC. Maybe I need to give it another go. But yes, I did think might be "too much of a good thing."

[Tommy Williamsen]

Peter, it seems to me that "Golden Age" courses tend to have great greens and green complexes where angles make a difference, especially when the greens are relatively small. DR, Dr. MAC, CB, Rayner, Perry Maxwell designed great greens.


Courses built in the last twenty-five years seem to have excellent green complexes as well. The bunkering on courses built in the last bunch of years is more interesting and tend to be deeper than those designed in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Many of the newer greens seem to be bigger but the tend to have more undulation and slope so angles and creative shots into and around the greens is important. I am surprised by how good some of the newer courses are.

[Tim Martin]

Peter, it seems to me that "Golden Age" courses tend to have great greens and green complexes where angles make a difference, especially when the greens are relatively small. DR, Dr. MAC, CB, Rayner, Perry Maxwell designed great greens.


Courses built in the last twenty-five years seem to have excellent green complexes as well. The bunkering on courses built in the last bunch of years is more interesting and tend to be deeper than those designed in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Many of the newer greens seem to be bigger but the tend to have more undulation and slope so angles and creative shots into and around the greens is important. I am surprised by how good some of the newer courses are.

Tommy-I agree with your take and although I’m sure you didn’t mean for the list above to be all inclusive I think Travis was a great green designer as well. He could do “bold” as well as anyone. If you put it on the wrong tier, shelf or high or wide of the hole game on. Although you need help with the right pins the way you can use backstops on Travis green’s adds a whole other level of intrigue and challenge.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I wish I knew more about Travis. I've only played Garden City and Ekwanok. I also played Columbia CC in DC. Not sure how much Travis is left in any of them but my guess is that Ekwanok has the most. I loved the greens there.They made some of the "easier" holes interesting.