Ed,
I'm glad I was able to scramble together something for you to do on a rainy day in Philadelphia. It was a pleasure to get together with you and play golf, sore shoulder and all. It isn't getting any better so I think I better have some surgery.
I cannot compare Alpine and Rolling Green since the only time I was at Alpine was at a GCA gathering and there was a foot of snow on the ground. Though friends whose opinions I greatly respect speak very highly of the golf course.
I agree so rarely with Mike Malone, but in this case I think he's right (random walk theory proved!) about the quality of topographic movement at Rolling Green. It is about as good as I've ever seen. Mark Studer, whose been around a lot of great golf courses including his own, thinks it is on a level at or near Augusta (that's National not CC). That is high praise indeed.
The term I use (I may have stolen it from Ron Forse) to describe Flynn greens is his use of complexities of slope rather than internal contours. Like a number of classic era architects, Flynn would use external mounding and slopes incorporating their influence in the greens. Flynn's use of drawn out lines was beneficial to maintenance expense over time and also makes it so the greens blend into the surroundings very well. But as far as internal contours, Flynn did it very subtly and that adds to the difficulty reading putts.
The number of uphill approaches are actually more than you recall and include 4!!,6,8!!!,9!!!,10,11!!,12!,14,15,17 and 18!. If there is an uphill nature to 16, it is very slight, certainly less than ten feet.
I like your collection of standout holes but would certainly add 2 for its shot demand off the tee and approach to a beautifully saddled green, 8 for its really interesting tee shot and uphill approach to a very difficult green and also 15 as it is a hole combining strategic demands and pleasing to the eye. So that is 8 standout holes and 10 real solid ones. I'd say a Doak 7 is about right as it stands today. With better conditioning (it has been dreadful for 5 or so years) which I expect with the new superintendent and a better tree program (which should be implemented beginning this winter) especially on 7 (and the Morr Paul bunker) and 18 as a better par 4 than a one-dimensional par 5 then it could be an easy Doak 8.
As far as routing, it like all Flynn courses is superb. It makes great use of the land and the flow of holes and the variety and pace of play is exceptional.
The greens were very wet when we played and that really takes its toll on the strength of the golf course. Since you prefer internal contours on greens a la Macdonald, Raynor, Tillinghast, etc. the Flynn greens would not appeal to your eye as much as you would like but they remain very challenging to read and thus to score on. If you remember, the 1st green is very challenging with its complexities of slope. One of the hardest putts you'll find anywhere is back left to front right. I hope you'll come back and see the course in better conditions and continue seeing more Flynn in the area.
As for 6 and 16, they differ in length by about 50 yards from the back tees. Yes, they do both cross a ravine but 6 is slightly uphill and 16 fairly level from the back. It is slightly uphill from the members tee. They both have a severe falloff to the right. The 6th has multiple bunkers on the right and a single on the left. The 16th has multiple bunkers on the left and a single one on the right. The 16th green has been butchered by Shearon and is out of character with the remaining greens on the course. The 6th green is a lot deeper than it appears on the tee and back pins are 1-2 clubs longer than middle pins. There should be a tongue of fairway between the bunkers as in Flynn's drawing. This would make the green seem closer and also allow short spinning approaches to roll a distance down the hill.
As for blind approaches, the only completely blind approach is 15 but you can only see the bottom of front pins on 4,5,8 and 11. Other greens with uphill approaches each have partially hidden areas. I like this feature, which is one reason why I love Rolling Green (the course) and also why I can understand why some might not. To each his/her own.
It is a very challenging course and remains one of the toughest courses in the district. In 1926 it had a 614 yard uphill par 5 (9) followed by a 245 yard uphill par 3 (10). These holes remain testers even today. I'd like to see a 260 tee put in on 10 as in one of the Flynn drawings.
Best regards, Ed. Hope to see you sometime in 2006!