As Sleepy Hollow is one of the few first-rate courses I've had the privilege of playing, how I wish your thread title had been "A difficult walk, but a great course."
I would love to hear more about the strengths of Sleepy Hollow and less about the physical challenges of other courses. Ah, well, just another one of life's regrets...
Charlie:
Here's my thought on the walk: the vistas are the payoff.
I think the routing at Sleepy Hollow is superb and in some ways reminds me of Bandon Trails (or does Bandon Trails remind me of Sleepy Hollow?).
You start with the get away holes, in this case a downhill 4, an uphill 4 and a 3 across a gorge. The climb up the second lets you know you're in for something special, especially if you take a peak over your shoulder and catch a bit of the expanse of river behind you. When you climb up the hill from the 3rd green into the central playing field, you almost feel like you've ascended into a high alpine meadow. You get to play four holes here (4, 5, 6 and 7) and get a peak at some of the joys to come (13, 14 and 15). The exploration continues, as you then play a small loop away from the halfway (thirdway?) shack, only to return after 12. After the alpine meadow, the stroll through the high forest of the loop (replete with a pond that must have been filled by glacial runoff) provides the "escape" feeling, the sense of having left the world behind.
Having had a preview of almost all of the closing stretch (with the exception of the wonder of standing on the 16th tee and green), you pretty much know what's in store as you return to the heart of the course. There are a ton of fun shots to look forward to coming home, including the punchbowl green approach, the short and the downhill drive on 17. To close things out, you're left with the task of besting the 18th, a wonderful uphill closing hole that places demands on every shot.
When you look back on the round, you're left with memories of the principal's nose, balls careening off the bank at the reverse redan, tee shots searching for the proper side of a fairway or climbing the last few yards of a hill to be breached and approaches skirting that last hurdle before trundling onto a green. There are great bunkers, but the course is far from being a sandbox. There's movement in the greens. There's elevation and there are relatively flat holes. There's something to examine and learn on every hole, if not every shot. Its a great course, and while the walk may be demanding in places (and downright fun in others), the payoffs are worth every ounce of energy expended on the journey.