Huck:
Finegan, writing in "Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens," (written prior to the Open returning there in '99) doesn't think much of the course. In short, he thinks it's long but boring, difficult but not thrilling, set on poor land, with something of an artificial, forced nature. Excerpting here:
-- "Pure difficulty, esp. when based largely on length, is scarcely a criterion for excellence, to say nothing of greatness."
-- From the 4th hole on, he calls it "a vast meadowy plain" devoid of true links qualities, "monotonously pedestrian" with holes neither "memorable or inviting."
-- Greens are "unmemorable" and "billiard-table extensions of the fairways."
-- Bunkers are fashioned and placed "in the most calculated and artificial fashion."
He does give it some due, saying the opening three holes are solid links holes. And he says about half the course is first-rate or outstanding, and he really likes 17. But he thinks two of its most famous holes -- the 14th, with the Spectacles bunkers, and the par 3 16th -- are mediocre and over-rated (he says the 16th is the most overrated par 3 "in the world"!!). He, too, had similar thoughts to yours -- didn't like it at first, and thought it might be an acquired taste. But, no, after several plays, "this historic links simply sits there, flat, severe, dour." But, in typical, gentlemanly Finegan fashion, he admits his opinion is probably in the minority, and he encourages folks to play it.
My own take, when I walked it a few days prior to the Open in '99, was somewhat similar. I actually do like the look of several of the pushed-up bunkers, and the ending trio struck me as pretty challenging for the game's elite. But I walked TOC a few days later, and to me there is no comparison (maybe that's an unfair one to make, but they are in pretty select company as rota courses, and thus invite comparisons). I do think the '99 Open was set up in the extreme, and in some cases over the top -- too long, too narrow, and too penal off the fairway, for a links subject to severe weather. So my judgement is probably clouded by that. But, in the end, it didn't look fun -- the golfing equivalant of castor oil.