A little while back, Tom Paul asked what is was that made some of these modern guys (Doak, C&C, Hanse, Strantz, etc.) interesting and were they at a stage to be considered with the previous generation.
This past week I had the chance to play an excellent Ross course that still had almost all the original bunkers & routing (Holston Hills). I also had the chance to play my first Doak course (Lost Dunes) and walk my first C&C course (Warren Course @ ND). A few weeks back I had the pleasure of playing Strantz's new course at MPCC.
Granted I've only been around these courses once, so I'm not making comparisons and I probably missed more that I saw, but the one thing that jumped out at my about the new courses was the use of visual disception or visual intimidation vs. traditional strategic elements seen in the past (ie. bunker placement).
For example, at HH, everything is right in front of you, so the challenge is determining the best line or type of shot. But somehow Ross also figured out where people would often miss (short-right, etc.) and then things like bunkers or slope came back into play again.
At Lost Dunes, Warren or MPCC, you visually see alot less of where you need to go, and alot more of things that can be visual intimidation (ie. long grasses, bunkers that are farther than they appear, angled tee-shots where the tops of bunkers obscure the landing area, etc.). But once you mentally overcome these challenges, the playing areas are often very wide and accepting.
Couple of examples:
Lost Dunes: Tee-Shots on #3, 5, 6, 18
Warren: Tee-Shot on #16; Bunkers on #11, 13
MPCC: Mound/bunkers in front of #5
Does this make the newer courses any less challenging? No, not at all. Are they less strategic? Well, I guess that would depending on your definition of strategy. If strategy is just shot-making (line, direction, height), then maybe you'd say "less strategic". But if strategy takes into consideration that your eyes help guide you around the course, and that the mind & confidence might wander throughout a 4hr round, and challenging the visual can be another form of strategy, then they are absolutely strategic.
So there some new things happening with the newer architects that is very interesting. Unfortunately for our gotta-have-it-now society, some people might miss the variety these new guys bring because it probably takes 10-20 rounds to figure out a place like Lost Dunes (ok, 100 rounds to figure out the greens), but the way they challenge both the mind and the shots is something to celebrate.
[NOTE: I did Lost Dunes absolutely no justice with those limited examples, but they immediately came to mind. I could probably talk all day about the interesting aspects I saw on various holes)