Wayne,
Almost from the very beginning of his career, Tillinghast's design philosophy began with the putting greens and especially the approaches into them.
His philosophy toward greens and their relationship to the rest of the golf course was illustrated by him in an article that he wrote in the journal, The Golf Course, in 1916. He wrote how, “There are people whom we may meet casually whom we forget after going our respective ways, for there has been nothing about them which leaves even the faintest impression behind. We may look into their faces and vaguely recognize a general type; then we promptly forget the face and man…”
He continues saying, “Now we are chatting on golf and not faces, but there is a parallel. A putting green has features just like a human, or, at least, it should have to be worthy of the name. Of course, there are many which are no more impressive than the vacant, cow-like expression of some people, but then again there are some with rugged profiles which loom head and shoulders above the common herd, and the moment we clap eyes on one of these, impulsively we murmur, ‘Ah! There’s a green for you!’”
He believed that, “The character of the putting greens and their approaches mark the quality of a course to a far greater extent than anything else. No matter how excellent may be the distances; how cunningly placed the hazards, or how carefully considered has been the distribution of shots, if the greens themselves do not stand forth impressively the course itself can never be notable.”
Tilly felt that, “…those greens which are to be gained by lofted shots from iron clubs should slope more into the shots than those which, under ordinary conditions, are reached by the finish of balls running from wood.”
He also wrote, “So our first step toward supplying our putting greens with character is the consideration of the type of shot which is to find that green and construct with that thought ever uppermost.”
The philosophy and practice of Tillinghast in building greens can be summed up in this sentence; “Construct your greens boldly and naturally, remembering at all times from which side of the fairway the approach is to come and the character of the club with which the approach is to be made.”
But it wasn't just the greens that were important, it was the fairway design and where shots were played into the green from that allowed for the greens to show their character.
Tilly wrote that, “This simple principle, with elaborations which permit holes to be played in numerous ways, introduced elective play and finesse that was entirely absent before. Hazards built in echelon and greens opening up diagonally to a straight line from the teeing grounds, make the true line play something other than indifferent hitting straight ahead, sauce for goose and gander alike. In brief, the oblique lines make it possible for every class of player to extend shots only to the limitations of power, thus making it easier for the duffer to enjoy golf more, but at the same time calling for greater effort for the scoring of par and ‘birdies’ than in the times when carries were obligatory and greens were faced at right angles and accepting, without great favor, shots from either side of the fairway.”
Tilly wasn't the first, but throughout his career he made conscious efforts to design holes that provided challenge and beauty together, doing this through oblique angles of play and greens designed to reward the preferred shot into them.