Tim:
PD is only a sitting duck in the context of conducting a Tour Event there. I think that minus some really bad weather twenty plus under wins. That being said, so what. It was never designed to have a tour event there. Thank god it wasn't because Bandon is so hard it wouldn't make any sense to have another brute there. The only complaint I have with PD is that I would prefer not to have 4 par 3s on the back nine, otherwise I love the place. The greens on the whole are very big, open in front, and they are not that hard to hit. That is all I am saying. And it is interesing to me that any kind of constructive criticsm of a Doak golf course is met with almost instant hostility,even if it is not criticism. PD is not that hard of a golf course for the expert player, so what. It is still a blast to play
As for fairway bunkers like number two at PD, that is fine, but I am not talking trouble if front and back for driving, I am talking about trouble back and in front on approach shots. So I completely disagree with you that Pine Valley mainly has trouble right and left, while PD doesn't. PD was designed for a ground game that lets you run the ball onto the green. Pine Valley lets you do this on some holes, but often the worst trouble is short or long. And as for fairway bunkers on a direct line, what about the tee shot on 6 at Pine Valley, or the 2nd on 7, or the tee shot on 16, I guess those fairway bunkers don't count. How about the approaches on 2,7,10,12,14,17,18. And as for PD, on hole like 4 the trouble is definitely on the left, and vice versa for 13. But on the whole you can run a lot more shots onto the green at PD,than you can at PV, and that makes the game easier for all players. It also means that a touring pro does not have to be as accurate with the drive to be aggressive going into the green, less strategy. Shallow firm greens that sit at proper angles to the line of play require strategy to play from even the best touring pros. Once again perhaps the best example of this is the angle at which the 6th green at Shinnecock sits in relation to the fairway. If you want to play the hole aggresivley you have to be in the left side of the fairway, more strategy.
Dan, believe it or not I love PD, Belden