Thanks Adam, wind adds complexity, to be sure, and doubt with it. The two best rounds I've ever personally witnessed played in howling winds were by two Canadian Tour players on separate occasions. One was a casual round at my home course. The other I was partnered with the player in a best ball. In the first case, the thing I remember most was the perfect pace the player had on his putts. He didn't sink a lot of putts and he had a lot of long ones, but he never left it more than a few inches away. He shot a few over par, on a course he'd normally expect to be at least a few under. In the other case, I think the guy shot 6 under on his own ball and we won by a mile. The course had few green side bunkers so any time he missed he was able to get it up and down with a chip, using a technique I aven't seen before or since, almost like he was hitting up on the ball, semi-blading it. But it seemed to me the real reason these guys played so well, is that they didn't try any funny stuff. No hitting it high, then low, curve right, then left. They struck the ball very, very solid, with virtualy no sidespin and pretty much on the same trajectory whether playing with or against the wind. As far as I could tell, the reason these guys were able to handle the wind is that they simplified the game by sticking with one straight shot, which their ball striking ability allowed them to repeat, time after time so their misses were not so severely punished as for those without that level of consistency in their game.
As you point out, playing in wind, like stroke play competition, is a grind, and it is a fairly rare individual who is be able to grind it out in either case, which can lead to an "exhausting" knd of satisfaction, like running a marathon or climbing a mountain. Very different than shooting a carreer round under more benign conditions with one's pals.