Mark,
The photos remind me of Bayonne when it first opened.
The fairways looked like ribbons from certain vantage points, but in reality, they were wider than they looked.
Bayonne also enjoys good winds.
As a new course, with everything on the entire site imported, the owner had to make the course look like it had been there forever, on opening day, and as such, the fescue roughs were tall and dense.
But as time went on, the roughs thinned out and in certain areas, were cut back, making the course more enjoyable to play.
Initially, if you could find your ball, you could almost break your wrists trying to extract it from the rough.
But, again, as time went by, the rough became more manageable.
Why wouldn't Eric Bergstol want the course to evolve as it did ?
And why wouldn't Trump want his course to evolve in the same way ?
There's a reason that recently christened ships embark on shakedown cruises.
Golf courses embark on similar journeys while remaining in place.