How important is the understanding of golf course architecture in helping golfers to score better ?
For the elite player it’s incredibly valuable, probably a seven or eight on the scale of 10. I don’t know that it has much value for the beginner to understand what Travis or Tillinghast or another architect was trying to do. They are challenged enough by just hitting the golf ball.
The good player will understand the mindset of the architect and what the architect is challenging him to do. He will understand what the architect has scripted and that will help him score better and enjoy the game more. This is especially true of for architects from years ago because they more consistently used the land as it existed with less artificial contrivance.
The above is the first question and answer from this months feature interview. Am I the only one on here to think this answer is not only rubbish but more than a little condescending ?
I’d have thought that an elite player might save say a couple of shots with better understanding and appliance of strategy but surely a hacker will save a whole lot more with some basic understanding of strategy ?
Niall