Sean - I just don't think it's as awful as everyone (even the golfwrx folks) seems to think it is. If, for example, being able to hit and precisely control a drawing 280 yard 3 wood is a legitimate test for the world's best golfers, and if two such golfers both hit that shot and hit it well and hit it to roughly -- but not exactly -- the same area on the left side of the fairway (let's say, the ideal spot/line), I think it "fair" that both golfers have roughly if not exactly the same approach shot left. Conversely, I think it could be considered "unfair" if some random hump or centre-line bunker or severe cant in the fairway meant that only a yard or two difference in where two smartly-aimed and well-struck tee shots landed made the difference between a routine par and a hard-fought-for bogey. Yes, that latter scenario too is "golf", and maybe even uniquely links golf -- but again, if every 5-7 years the pros play a course that seems to them 'fairer" than that, it seems all good to me.
Peter