George-
In three words, I liked it. Attended the Tuesday practice rounds, getting to meet Mike Sweeney in the process
and his son Dylan. Cool!
Firstly, I have not played WFW or WFE. From my prior, relatively limited experience with Tillinghast courses, specifically Bethpage, Baltusrol, Ridgewood, Cricket, I would place it high on the list. No need to rank them, they're all good. Prior to going in, many had told me the scale is "big", and I concur. Big contours, big greens, big bunkers. Many of the holes run parallel with a few exceptions, but I didn't feel the course was necessarily boring; as compared to some other "U.S. Open" courses I know pretty well. Off the tee, it's obvious what you have to do; hit the fairway with a shaped tee shot. I do concur with Ward about a "slide" tee shot rather than a sharp one--the angles aren't necessarily severe, but they are there, and the penalty for missing fairways seemed steep. Same with the greens.
I liked how there appeared to be an "ebb and flow" to the course--much like many other great courses--starting out with a few ballbreakers, easing up a little (comparatively speaking) and then applying the pressure again. Great finish from 13 on!
It just seemed like a very hard golf course, but one that would make you a better player, by playing it frequently. Very much an aerial-shot course. I won't go as far as to say the land was "bland", it is what it is. Ridgewood has a very good use of land, as do the Bethpage courses.