Standing on the 1st tee, the golfer can see a sliver of fairway in the direction of the flag but for ~ 1/2 of the hole locations, the ideal drive is well right of there to an area of fairway hidden behind the fescue covered mounds that slash into the right middle of the expansive fairway.
At the one shot 2nd, the golfer has an unobstructed view of the single most fearsome hazard on the course - the 12 foot pit that fronts the green.
At the 3rd, the golfer can see the white flag in the distance on this straight hole but none of the fairway (which happens to be one of widest on the course) when the fescue rough is up.
The 5th hole, which has been modified several times, is one of the few instances where the golfer has a clear view down the length of the hole. Coincidentally, it is my least favorite two shotter on the course. Still, ala the 11th or 12th at Pine Valley, almost any course would like to have it.
Though the 7th is in the middle of Hempstead Plain, the wide fairway isn't in view thanks to the tee being built up NOT one inch from its surrounds and the fescue rough separating the tee and fairway.
The 8th tee aims the golfer down the very left edge of the fairway, which is both visible and the long way home. The golfer has to be mighty confident to flight his ball over the tallish brush that obscures the view of the right portion of the fairway.
The golfer is given a clear view of the 9th fairway. He is also given a clear view of the flag which is well right of the fairway. Thus, many a player is lured into aiming too far right. As the fairway is domed on the right, a marginal shot along the right fairway edge is shrugged off into fescue covered mounds.
The view down the 10th is blind save for the GCGC trademark flagsticks signifying the right edge of the fairway bunkers down the left.
On two of the very toughest two shotters, the golfer has a good view down the fairway. In the case of the 11th, he can see how the diagonal bunkers pinch in the fairway and make his decision accordingly. At the 15th, he can see the cross hazard bisecting the fairway some 280 yards off the tee.
At the three shot 13th, the golfer is given a good view of GCGC equivalent of a Hell bunker complex: the golfer on the tee understands if he doesn't hit the fairway, clearing these bunkers on his second will be problematic.
At the 16th, patches of the left side of the fairway can be seen but the right of the fairway is obscured by the fescue. Ala The Old Course, the golfer again has to be full of confidence to swing out down the right side as OB is near there, as is the perfect line into the green.
Off the reachable 490 yard 17th, the golfer is again kept guessing. Though he would like to blast away off the tee in an effort to bring the green within reach in two, there is no comforting view of the fairway. In fact just the opposite - wonder if that slight tug off the tee just sent the ball into a hidden row of six foot deep pits a few paces off the left of the fairway? The golfer (and his competitor) will have to walk ahead at least 200 yards before learning his tee ball's fate.
And finally at the one shot Home hole, the golfer has a perfect view of everything: Lake Cornelia, the amphitheatre formed by the clubhouse and patio, the huge green itself and the shared practice putting green, the menacing deep bunker in front, etc.
All in all, I can't think of any course in the US that offers any more appealing variety of views off the tee. The architects continually mix up what the golfer can/can't see. A large stylish bunker is NEVER available in the distance as an aiming point. As Max Behr preferred, the bunkers are pits sunk into the ground.
The Old Course at St. Andrews, Royal County Down and Royal St. George's are three great favorites overseas that also keep the golfer slightly 'off balance' off the tee. RCD and RSG do it through their wild topography while the flatter Garden City and TOC accomplish the same result through many subtle means. (I started a thread 15-18 months ago suggesting that the design of Garden City best embraces the lessons learned from the The Old Course and I stand by that view).
Too bad many courses built after WWII offer such perfect views down the lengths of the holes with everything nicely laid out for the golfer to see. Especially given the unchecked direction of technology, such courses give the Johnny Miller green light special to ace golfers to bomb away and the architect is in a tough position after a relaxed monster 350 yard drive.
Though many prefer perfect visuals off the tee and even consider it a more strategic form of architecture as the golfer can clearly make out what he should/shouldn't do, I for one find it boring and think such architects have missed one of the easiest ways to get inside the golfer's head. In order for a course to stay fresh for its members round after round and year after year, it seems to me that it MUST create indecision (no matter how slight) and make the golfer pause off the tee. And very few courses do it better than Garden City Golf Club.
Cheers,