When did "everything is right in front of you" become a compliment?

[Frank M]

There was this architect by the name of William Flynn who some here might have heard of who made the following quotes:


"A concealed bunker has no place on a golf course.  When concealed, it does not register on the player’s mind as he is about to play the shot and thus loses its value.”

Are quotes like this not pretty much irrelevant in today's age of gps, yardage guides, hole layout/yardage signs, etc.? Beyond that, did William Flynn see golf courses as a one and done sort of thing? It would seem to me the bunker would only be concealed on first play, and then, especially if found, it will register quite vividly in the golfers mind. 

I don't believe 18 blind shots are a good thing, but I'll take any blind shot offered to me and enjoy it thoroughly. 

I think my contention is that those who have an aversion to blind shots are of the less creative sort. Those who need to see everything in front of them are simply those who need to see everything in front of them, as otherwise, they would never see anything at all.   

[Mark_Fine]

Frank,
I provided those quotes just as an example of the opinion of a pretty noteworthy architect who designed some amazing golf courses.  And like all architects, Flynn did at times design holes that did not adhere to his primary design principles. 


I have always believed that Flynn might have felt differently had he made a trip to see the great links courses across the pond.

[Matthew Mollica]

The ever eloquent Peter P may well be correct regarding the earliest use of the term (dating back to the late 1950s) yet whenever I hear the "right there in front of you" comment - I cannot help but think of Tiger Woods. It is among his many copyrighted terms and phrases.


Marko (aka Mark O'Meara)
Stevie (caddie Steve Williams)
Just gotta get more reps in
Striksie (Steve Stricker)
Feels
Traj
Couldn't get my glutes activated


and of course,


"It's all right there in front of you"


A little searching shows the phrase shot to prominence when he described Firestone South more than a decade ago. As shown in the excerpt below, from Geoff Shackelford's 2005 work "The Future of Golf".