I went to Winged Foot once and ended up playing the East that day because my host had a bad knee and couldn't walk the West course. I was absolutely delighted with the course and found it more enjoyable than its better-known sister course. Interestingly, they are both equally challenging courses which in my opinion is odd for a club to want. If a club is family oriented, my ideal is for one course to be a championship caliber course while the other is an interesting even quirky design that is shorter and playable for juniors starting out, women and seniors.
I've played both Baltusrol courses and find the upper course to be a much better design, and more exciting to play. This is especially true after the fairways were narrowed and the bunkers pinched in as well on the Lower Course. It is rather dull now. I was unimpressed with their signature par 3 over the water. I, for one, would rather have width and angles than a narrow singular strategy golf course on a regular basis. I can see why guests would want to come and play the golf course set up for a major event, but why change the golf course to better suit guests than members?
Merion West fulfills my wishes for a great second course in a single club. It wasn't designed that way in the beginning. It was also considered a championship course. The 1916 Amateur championship committee had a difficult time deciding upon the East or West course as the match play course. It is interesting to consider that back then, the East at par 73 was considered equally difficult to the West with its par of 70. Of course today, the 5989 yard course is more of an enjoyable course for men and the primary course for juniors, women and seniors. It is a delight to play with small greens, lots of undulation and elevation change and beautiful old trees. The course is almost unchanged since 1914 with a throwback sort of feel.
Ed Baker and some other Charles River guys were down to play the East Course (Dave Miller couldn't get away from business demands). The East was closed due to heavy rains. You could see the disappointment on their faces when told the East was closed. We tried to get a hold of Tom Paul to play Gulph Mills bt couldn't reach anyone. When I suggested playing the West course, you could tell they thought they were in for a great disappointment. Well, Bill Dow joined us and we played in very windy conditions with gusts above 50 mph. They had a blast and their reservations were soon wiped away by the fascinating little other course at Merion. Everyone comes away with a warm feeling for the course and a desire to come back. Scores are nearly always a lot higher than one would think looking at the scorecard and to a person, they want to come back and shoot a low score relative to their game. However, it is a sneaky hard course and the perfect second course to the famed East Course.