At Merion, how does the pin position change the driving strategies?
FOR ME:
#1 - Anywhere along the right side of the green asks for you to get it up the left side for visibility and angle...the back right pin almost demands it if you want to have a manageable two putt, or good thought of birdie. Front left is pretty easy as the approach is open and puttable. Back left is just a notch up from front left...if you're thinking about a birdie you want to hit it as far as you can up the center to right center, or you can play conservatively off the tee and into the green.
#2 - The entire green looks better from the right side of the fairway on the approach, which is remarkably easier to get to with a tee shot up the left side of the fairway as opposed to the middle or right side.
#4 - Doesn't have much side-to-side demand from the tee, other than the flatter lie you get on the right side. Front hole locations ask for a quick stopping approach, and if the pin favors one side or the other of the front, the opposite side of the fairway will be greatly preferred. Thruth be told, the fact that the (second) fairway is able to move while your layup shot is in the air kind of takes any lateral strategy out of the picture. A back hole location asks for a releasing shot, which is not so easy from an elevated fairway down to a green that faces you at a pretty steep angle, so it asks for me to be aggressive on your layup and get it down as close to the creek as possible.
#5 - In general, every inch away from the creek on the left increases the difficulty to any pin, but I would say that a deep, slightly left pin might be best accessed from a little higher on the hill because the general nature of the shot from the left edge of the fairway seems to play uphill which would make the back of the green difficult to reach.
#6 - generally you just want to get out of here with a par, but a drive to the left (safe) side of the fairway with the pin in the back left will result in a nearly impossible approach to get inside of 30 feet, and then the break on that 30 footer will be huge...so, if the pin is center or right, just find the fairway and find the green and you should make a par...but...if the pin is back left you will need to drive it in the right side of the fairway to take pressure off the need for a perfect approach.
#7 - Not sure of any real significant advantage to being on one side or the other with the exception of the intimidating look of the big left bunker when you are in the left edge of the fairway to a right pin.
#8 - The small slope coming off the left and front bunkers force you to approach left half pins from the right corner if you want a birdie, or even a slightly larger margin of error on your approach to make a par easier. A well struck wedge from the left center of the fairway to the left center of the green has only a moderate chance of holding the green because of the severity of the downslope while the same yardage approach from 20 or 25 yards to the right will be pretty receptive. Right half pins would not seem to offer much advantage either way.
#10 - Left side pins force an approach from the right side. The challenge and penalties are too severe to come in from the left. Back right requires a tee ball that lays back...not so much a lateral requirement (the fairway is pretty narrow there) but a distance requirement...maybe even a club that brings the otherwise obsolete left fairway bunker into play.
#11 - Just get it in the fairway and on the green.
#12 - Hole locations cut along the back provide an opportunity to be a bit more aggressive off the tee. I can try to cut it up and around the corner without too much concern about the rough because I'll have green to work with. Otherwise, you better just play safely to the center of the green at the yardage of the pin if you can.
#14 - has a back left pin the can only be accessed from the right third of the fairway, and a back right pin that is more easily accessed from the left rough than the right third of the fairway.
#15 - Really is a hole you try to par...to just about any pin, the closer you are to the left rough, the better your angle.
#16 - Provides a real, although not tremendous advantage to the typical left pin/ right side of fairway type of strategy. If you're in the middle of the fairway, you're in good shape to any pin.
#18 - I am of the firm belief that the best way to make a par here is to stay just shy of the crest of the hill off the tee, and up the right center of the fairway. I may be back at 210 or so, but it should be pretty flat and well positioned to get on the green. I've never seen a pin here that I thought I could get near from any more than about 15 feet from it...