Joel
Hazeltine is by no means my favorite course but when set up for normal play and played from a reasonable distance it is a worthwhile experience. It has two great holes - 6 and 10, and a number of very good holes (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 16, and 17). There is nothing offensive about the remaining holes, even if they fall short of inspirational. I would argue that the greens are extremely good and the course is far more playable than many championship venues.
I have never played the Lake Course at Olympic but from driving around it with Gib, I found little reason to think I could handle that course. Hazeltine seems friendly by comparison.
With the rough for this championship, I am glad I am not a member playing there regularly this year, but in a normal year, I have enjoyed my visits.