These last two posts, coming from folks who really have played the very best, should be appreciated. With the right folks, any course is enjoyable. Personally, I can’t think of a time a round of golf was wrecked by the quality of the course. My preference is for brisk pace of play. I’m not a snob about it. If I can’t play at a pace I enjoy, I don’t play.
When I was a kid, several generations ago, I played a 9-hole course with sand “greens.” Not oiled sand; rather sand like in an unraked bunker with a single, three foot wide, rolled and smoothed strip. Local rule dictated that you step off the distance from the hole, place your ball on the strip at a similar distance, then putt. It was still a game and we still had fun. Thanks for dragging up that memory, Bob.