Mark,
I don't understand the implications of your statement, "Thompson's courses are some of the greatest aesthetic courses designed and they were not seaside. He was just very good!"
He was just very good at what? Making aesthetically pleasing courses? Is your definition of very good making aesthetic courses everywhere instead of just on seaside land?
"I'm also glad to see that you are coming around to the fact that though well placed most of Flynn's bunkering (since most of his courses were not seaside) was relatively plain or as Brad Klein described in our golf architecture video, "almost boring in appearance"
Sorry, Mark. Your gladness is misplaced
I have not come around to any such fact at all. I am and have been well aware of Flynn's bunker styles and designs in general and course specific for a number of years now. It is evident to anyone that has made a study and has a keen eye that he designed and built simple bunker outlines but many of his bunkers were designed and built a bit more complex than many appear today due to maintenance practices over the years. Surely you are aware that the bunkers we see today are not necessarily as they first appeared. Many of the bunkers at Indian Creek and even Shinnecock do not appear like they were intended and maintained for a time. Some of this is because the expense to do so proved to great but also because tastes changed and some superintendents years ago decided to finish them in a different way. Some of Flynn's bunkers may have had simple outlines but that doesn't mean they were not without artistic merit nor easier. Flynn used contoured floors of a number of bunkers plain (Philadelphia Country--although the bunkers were at one time far more artistic than they are today) and fancy (Kittansett) that created more interest and more demands than their simple shapes might indicate.
Brad may think most bunkers were almost boring in appearance, but I think he's wrong. I don't know how many Flynn courses Brad has seen, but it could be a sampling error. Perhaps upon reflection I think he'd come to an understanding that many not most are plain in appearance. But he had an outstanding variety of bunker styles. This is something you don't believe in and I'm not going to spend much energy trying to convince you. If you think Brookline, Merion, Kittansett, Seaview, Shinnecock, Boca Raton North and South, Cascades, Indian Creek, Denver CC, Norfolk CC, Atlantic City CC, Pine Valley, Philadelphia Country, Opa Locka, and others were boring or plain, I'd say your ability to analyze would be called into question. All of the bunkering on these courses were artistic and complex. I just named 14 designs (out of 50 course designs) and 1 redesign that are as aesthetic as any bunkering ever done. That is a pretty fair percentage of courses. Many of the other courses had some bunkers with artistic flare but granted were predominantly plain.