Mucci,
I left of a 2 in front of that 5 in my previous post it was supposed to be 25' off the fairway. I don't know where you play golf at but, I can assure that even single digit handicap players coming out of 2-3" bermuda rough or 3"+ thick bluegrass rough are not controlling distance from a 110 yards with a wedge to a crowned green. They are lucky to hold the surface at allif they don't hit it thin and watch a hosel rocket come flying out over the green or sideways or hit it fat with a pound of grass and have that delicate 40-80 yard shot that could be very tough to get close and save par.
Add to this no spin out of the rough so I don't care what type of ball their playing ProV1, Callaway, Nike or TM they are basically using a shovel to get it out of the rough and advance the ball. When you tighten landing areas to catch the bombers it requires the player to control the tee shot draw, fade or straight not just swing away and lets go find it mentality. If you think about 25' off the fairway is less than 10 yards offline and all good players unless they are Fred Funk are going to pull a couple tee balls and catch the rough.
I am not saying make it penal for all golfers your statement was - Has technology diminished or eliminated the significance of angles?
My answer to that statement is "yes" now a course architect / designer can overcome technology with the right property, using natural features, shaping features, bunkers / hazards and graduated rough that rewards strategic play regardless of handicap while catching the bomber that just likes to go deep with the driver.
I have always wondered what a golf course would look like if the course had wide landing areas from 180-250 yards and then tapered down tight to like 20 yards wide from 250-300 yards. Rough heights would be graduated so that in the 180-250 landing zone it is only 1-2" in height and then as the landing zone tightens it goes to 3"+ with tall fescues that create the natural narly look surrounding bunkers leadign all the way up to the green complexes. I would like to watch single digit players on a course like that if they opted to hammer it as far as they can with the driver or lay back with a 3 wood and play strategy into the green on their approach.
Mucci you come on down to Tennessee I will lay a $100 bill on the ground and give you 2 shots out of 3" bermuda rough from 100 and 125 yards and I bet you I end up with the money and both your balls are not on the green!