Actually, after thinking about this some more, David, my question would be why no one has clamored for par-76 golf courses in years past? If you want more practice hitting longer shots, wouldn't that be the way to go?
Tom,
I thought it may have been biting off more than I could chew to advocate a 8000 yard course in the same thread as a par 78 course, but sure, why not, I would be just as interested in playing a par 78 course as a par 70.
As mentioned in my reply to A.G Crockett, I think that long courses (as a concept) get a bad rep because forward tees give designers an excuse to never think about how the average player would play the hole from the back tee. Whereas many of the longer holes that I list are designed to be played by the average player from the back tee.
Longer holes to me are the least predictable holes and therefor offer the most variety, in my opinion. Take the first at St Andrews Beach for example, over the course of a years play I would have approached that green, with every club from 3 wood to lob wedge. I would love to see what a good designer, such as yourself, would do if given the brief to design an 8000 yard course on a suitable site. I bet the design would be interesting, original and redefine what people thought about long golf courses. And if the pros ever came to visit there would be absolutely no temptation to slow down the fairways, speed up the greens, grow ithe rough or narrow the fairways.