Jason,
That's probably a good point, I don't know that I could properly say if some of the holes "work" without playing it a couple times. But maybe that's part of the design, they push you out of your comfort zone and bait you into hitting poor shots.
Sam,
the course was the Donald Ross Course at French Lick. I had pretty high expectations going in, because I had read such good things. And the course was just fantastic. I've never played a course that was so perfectly laid out on the land. The green complexes were fantastic...that's probably why I loved it. I couldn't hit a fairway or make a putt to save my life, but getting up near the greens presented great challenges and nearly every single one was totally different. I have a feeling that if French Lick wasn't in the middle of nowhere this course would be regarded much higher.
As for playing on a bad course, I think that makes the score more important. If I know I'm not going to be playing on a course with a lot of interest, the main thing I'm going for is to shoot a good score.