If courses tip out beneath 6000 yards, won't we all become bomb-and-gouge players, hitting driver-wedge into fours? That is presuming a standard par of 72, with standard three, four, and five-par holes.
The notion of "not having to wait" begs the question of me: why don't you join a private club? If your private club has slow play, penalize your members. I can't help but recognize the selfishness in putting one's own interest (dare I say birthright) to play at her/his/their pace. Municipal and public-course golf are the Ellis Island of the game. You are more likely to find faster players at the muni, as it is usually less well-thought of (exceptions exist) and the home to proud regulars.
It's the daily-fee courses that get hit the hardest by the lack-of-speed demons. They want to brag that they played a high-end daily to their buddies. The average golfer goes farther laterally than vertically, has a rotten short game and, mercifully, gives and accepts putts of up to six feet (imagine if they putted them all out?)
Here's the clincher: they don't care as much as you do. Golf is not their religion. They are not acolytes. They play golf like they participate in other, leisure-time activities. They have the right in a free society to pay the freight. No daily-fee owner is going to ban a golfer, unless damage to the course or persons takes place, and can be proven.
The beloved Sedge Valley has one par five hole, tips out at 6159 yards, and has a par of 68. Five short holes against one long hole.
1 366 2 386 3 464
4 447 5 149 6 303
7 155 8 238 9 359
10 416 11 569 12 282
13 163 14 476 15 204
16 429 17 425 18 328
There are five meaty, two-shotters in there, ranging from 425 to 476. There is one meaty, one-shotter at 238. For the average golfer, the par for this course is at least 72, possibly 73. 464 and 476 are par five holes, and 238 is a par four for the chop.
Back are 5829. Back Middle are 5279.
How many, non-member/regular golfers will go to the back tees on Sedge or any other course of its length? I wish they would, and I don't know the answer. As golfers are creatures of habit, will they break that routing and play the tips? Will the tips tee decks get worn out, due to extensive play from them?
The reason Sedge Valley works at this resort, is that it is compact, compared to Mammoth, Lido, and Sand. It and Sandbox will be the favorites of the less-skilled set that come to the resort, at least until a sixth layout is added. If you look at a satellite view, a sixth course could not begin anywhere near resort-center but then, Sheep Ranch (and even Old MacDonald) have separate chalets for their courses.
That's a lot of off-track from me, and I apologize to those who were not enthralled by my expository writing. I have questions, and you have answers, so I pose them herein. Golf Club Atlas is going to transition away from the Morrisett era, into the Harvie era, and it's important to preserve the genteel, back-and-forth that the DG has always known (and often, supported.)
And to my friend down the Lake (Erie) in Erie, I agree that faster golf means more golf. I guess that's what 100-Holes-In-A-Day, charity events are for. Unless (said the Onceler) unless a course can attract enough, like-minded golfers to play a morning or afternoon run of two-rounds-in-six-hours (7 am to 1 pm, or 1 pm to 8 pm) that is financially sustainable.