Pat, I have to say, I'm a bit worried about the state of golf course architecture if you're one of its leading practitioners and can't see beyond the class of golfers for whom the 18th at the Old Course is always a drive and a wedge! This lends credence to my initial sense that the European Club is indeed a "black diamond" course designed with the scratch golfer first and foremost in mind. A truly great course needs to at least consider the needs of the 24-handicapper as well as the scratch golfer, doesn't it? I'm borderline horrified to hear you talk this way, as though "strategy" is only something for good players to consider on a golf course.
And for that matter, if you think the 18th at TOC is always a drive and a wedge for good players, you should perhaps talk to the class of golfer that can hope to drive the green, or get within pitching/bump-and-run distance and therefore needs to factor the angles of the Valley of Sin into the equation relative to where the hole location is on any given day - the shot is much easier if you're pitching straight up the bank instead of across it. In theory, the 100-yard wedge may be more likely to produce better results than a 40-yard pitch (for most golfers, anyway, but not all)...but then, it's golfers reaching for a 10-yard chip or an eagle putt who tend to wind up with the 40-yard pitch, which is precisely why a hole like this can be so fascinating EVEN WHEN IT'S "EASY".
(As an aside, I wonder if Granny Clark's Wynd could even be considered party of the strategic puzzle that is the 18th at TOC. Although I'm a low-handicapper, I've never been a terribly long hitter, and having played the course 30+ times I certainly had days at TOC when the one thing I feared the most at the 18th was hitting my drive and having it stop on the road, thereby complicating my approach. That actually happened during the one time I broke par at TOC - the event is more fully described in my book - and I wonder if there's something about the road being a hazard which shorter hitters should consider!)
Cheers,
Darren