(looks up 'koan' on the online dictionary....cool)
Gib and JimB,
Thanks for the comments. I tend to be a hit and run type poster on GCA these days. Sorry I wasn't around for mid-morning banter.
Speaking of balls rolling for long periods of time, I imagine Augusta National is fun to play for all the right reasons. Sure, it's a hard course to score on, but you are presented with all these shots that you know so well, and the greens require all sorts of different putts. The course appears playable for most veteran golfers from the shorter tees. I can't imagine anybody who is a lifelong golfer not having a great time there.
Gib, I haven't played a few of the courses you mention, but I did play Barona Creek in a GCA mini-outing and had a great time. Beautiful setting,with lots of fun shots.
I guess the question then becomes what makes golf fun? I'll take a crack at it. I'll start by describing what happens during a single stroke:
1. I look at the upcoming shot and gather relevant information, and decide how I want to hit the shot.
2. Execute stroke.
3. Watch the shot.
4. Finally and importantly, I arrive at the next location of the ball to begin the process again.
Step 2 is mechanical, getting into your shell and doing your little dance. There's always joy found in watching the shot, especially during greenside play, but the greatest satisfaction may be in steps 1 and 4. I've said a few times how much fun I had playing North Berwick. The back nine has a string of back to back showstoppers, while the outward nine is pretty mundane to look at. But I thoroughly enjoyed the front nine, where the results of my shots were so interesting. Getting to your ball and knowing how you hit the shot, I had this feeling that the course rewarded me in fair yet amusing ways. It made me want to hit another shot to see what happened next. By the time we got to #13, it was icing on the cake to an already magical experience.
My favorite thing about golf is the initial assessment, seeing the shot and imagining a solution. I've played for about 40 years, and over that time I have been able to hit the ball high or low, and curve it in both directions, though the ease in which I did so varies. I like playing shots, even if playing a stock shot every time might shave a stroke or two off my final score. The more you play those variant shots, like the bounding draw, or a little "change up" full shot, the better you become at those shots, and the more satisfaction is attained by successful execution. That's what I love about golf. Set me on the tee at Pacific Dunes #17, where I can decide between a drawing 4-5 iron or the riskier but more rewarding 7-wood fade shot. Most days I'll go with the iron. By then, it depends how many over par my score is. All part of the wonderful calculations of playing golf and having fun.
It becomes less fun if the shot to be played is mundane, with little or no planning required. This can happen when you play the same course over and over, especially when there are few conditions like wind that can change strategy. It can also be less fun when you are physically unable to execute a shot without a reasonable reward, like a forced carry. And of course, it is a drag when you can't find your ball and play it as it lies. That's the worst. One or two carry bunkers that can't be flown to reach the best side of a fairway is OK, seven or eight of them is not. If I return to playing, I reserve the right to modify that to "three or four" unreachable carry bunkers are OK.
Our man Doak, his friends Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and many other modern architects build courses where there are no mundane shots. Most shots feature options, with modest to moderate penalties for failing to execute. A reasonably accomplished player can play their ball all day long on great modern courses. The slope of the green is almost always decipherable from at least one side of each fairway. When you play a great course, it almost always gives you the clues you need to make the right decisions off the tee.
Gib recently cited holes #4 and #5 at the Lake course as great back-to-back holes. These are the "reverse camber" long fours at the Olympic Club, where the ideal drives are a draw on the dogleg left 4th, into the hillside which holds the ball on the fairway, followed by the opposing 5th, a dogleg right which begs for a fade into the hillside. Twenty years ago, I could hit a big draw with a 3-wood and that's what I would've tried back then. Lately I hit the driver almost exclusively left to right, so I'd take my chances with a line drive down the left field line and hope for the best. The 5th would be an easier task for me, but if memory serves me well, the last (and second) time I played it, I overcooked it into the right rough, which is bogey land. These are exciting driving options on challenging golf holes.
Thanks for the opportunity to share. The solemn, stern test of golf is a dying concept. Whether it is fun or a dreary slog, the lowest score wins. You might as well make it fun.