What strikes me as really interesting is when a monster drive remains in the fairway but is left with an awkward lie. Whether it be by design or by sheer luck as is often the case with classic age designs. The hanging lie is really good , even if it seems microscopic in degree. It adds an element of skill to a shot and negates some of the huge advantages produced by the new equipment advances .
Archie:
That's not really luck. Most holes are designed so the player will land on an upslope ... but if they were designed 75-100 years ago, long hitters today are going past the design point, and often that means they're left with a hanging lie on the other side of the contour.
I noticed this happened a couple of times on my reversible course, The Loop ... because it was harder to control the tee locations and landing areas for both directions at once, there are a couple of holes where you have to play to a downslope, or around the corner of a short dogleg. I think it's a really cool feature; now I just have to figure out how to re-train myself to do it deliberately on occasion.