Now that I have those 18 green complexes keeping me up at night, I got to thinking about some of the things that went through my head while trying to get & up and putt. Two things were very dominant:
1) When you approach the greens, it's fairly easy to see the severity of slopes and contours. BUT when you get on the green surface, the severity appears to flatten out and you lose that sense of the severity. I've noticed this at my home club and also at Southern Pines on Saturday. I've never seen another architect that seemed to be able to create this illusion on greens before.
2) #2 has a practice chipping/pitching/putting area that is supposed to give you a sense of the greenside contours. The height of the slopes is correct, but the green is narrower than the actual greens. This makes the actual areas around the practice holes alot smaller. The result is that it takes quite a few attempts to begin to get the pace right on the various approaches you're able to hit. BUT, it also shows you the severity of not getting the ball on the right line or being short of the peak of the slopes. Somewhere in this learning process, you also begin to develop a subconscious concern about knocking shots off the sides of the green. And considering where some of the pin placements were yesterday, the chances of putting off the green, and 20-30 yds down a slope or into a bunker stay creeping into your head.
The green complexes are toustanding for their variety and severity, but the mind games that Ross plays with the players is just as interesting.