My thoughts on the difficulty of the course are below.
Reasons why the course is easy:
- plays much shorter than the actual yardage due to the firmness. A 270 carry may end up 330 there.
- the drives reward a fade for the most part, especially the short par 4s, 5, 9, and 13.
- can bounce it on from well short of most greens from the proper angles (except 4, 10, and 14).
- greens are enormous with lots of flat areas
- fairways run fast, so it's easy to putt from well off the greens without a big speed differential
- no trees to get stymied by.
- has 3 very short par 4s that are supposed to be gettable (but tricky)- 5, 9, and 13.
- the firm greens don't get footprinted up, so short putts really hold their lines well. i.e. no volcano cups.
- water rarely comes into play- just on 4 and 12 for most people
- no out of bounds. It's not uncommon to play one ball for multiple rounds there.
- nearly impossible to lose a golf ball that isn't in the water. I've only seen it happen twice. i.e. fescue is sparse and wispy.
- lots of helping contours once you know the course. There are rails in fairways to steer the ball into certain places and there are some backboards that are useful on some of the greens- front of 2, back left on 4, fairway right of 5 green, entire 10th green, entire 12th green, thumbprint on 14, diagonal on 15th green, the tiers on 18.
- 2 of the par 5s are basically par fours in the modern game- the 6th and 7th. The 6th in particular can often be Driver + PW for a strong player when it is downwind. Even with hickories, I've reach all 4 of the par 5s from the back tees. The other par 5s, 4 and 17 are pretty easy pars if that is your goal.
- and of course, even the difficult holes have alternate routes that can be utilized- most famously, 4 and 18.
Reasons why the course is difficult:
- the site lines off the tee are almost all partially obscured. Makes it disorienting on the first few plays.
- firmness of the turf makes it impossible for most players to hold greens from the incorrect angles
- lots of forced carries of cross bunkers- all of the par 5s have a crossing hazard for instance. Have to be really smart about knowing when you can and can't make the carries and resist the urge when it's marginal.
- the waste area is a crapshoot in terms of the lies that you get- footprints, tufts, and a variety of difficult outcomes. I'd say good lies are 50%, poor lies are 25%, and really bad lies are 25%.
- the bunker lips are severe, much like pot bunkers in the UK. Very often, it's a blast out.
- there are a lot of bunkers and they have gravity b/c of the contours and the turf firmness.
- it is very exposed to the wind. On a breezy day, players who can't control their flight get eaten alive. Tight turf = lots of spin and the shots want to balloon into the wind.
- very tight lies around the greens make it tough for those who want to use loft, or who are in positions where they need to lob the ball. I take a low bounce 60* wedge to deal with these situations... but that's a very difficult shot.
- Firmness of the greens makes many short sided misses impossible to get up and down... auto bogeys if you're smart- doubles if you're not.
- Very difficult set of par 3s. The 14th is the easiest of the bunch and it's a forced carry with wind as a major factor.
- Long misses are punished and most visitors have trouble adjusting their yardages to the firmness, so they miss long a lot at first.
- When the greens get fast, the wind plays a major factor in speed and break. And they have gotten really fast lately.
- Most of the breaks are subtle and there are a lot that go to the backs of the greens.
To me, a lot of the difficulties fade away as you gain course knowledge and feel. You just develop a playbook on where to go and where to absolutely avoid, when to play safe, and when to be aggressive. At this point, I can go out there and have a poor ball striking day and still get around decently... as long as I aim for safer pockets off the tee. Whereas, if I were playing a course like Butler National, that wouldn't be possible.