This is a perfect example (re Tom's 'how short can a course be' thread) of why architects who want to explore unconventional approaches don't have to worry about either the genuine connoisseurs (who embrace new/unique challenges and experiences in all its form) or the so-called average golfer (who want to have fun at the game they love, and can have fun in many different settings). For both of those 'classes' of golfers, the Mulligan sounds like a course they'd love.
No - instead, architects who want to explore unconventional approaches need to worry a lot more about people like *me* -- those many many golfers who fall right smack dab in the middle.
We "middle class" golfers have
read enough and experienced just enough that (in our heart of hearts) we won't classify ourselves as average golfers; and yet, for a variety of reasons, we still clutch our card and pencils firmly in our hands, still believe that "par" is a meaningful and indeed crucial concept and part of the game, still have only courses like Mid Pines on the one hand and, say, Bay Hill on the other as possible ends of the spectrum, still haven't played a 6,000 GB&I seas-side course in 40 mph winds, and still long for what we never had as children: the 18 hole, country club experience. I almost cringe to say it, but if were a member at Ballyneal (which for years I've suggested will one day be No 1 - Modern) and talk of a 12-hole Par 3 course came up, the concept would've been way outside my (surprisingly conventional) comfort zone.
I'd be one of the members asking "Why not 9 holes? A course should be either 9 or 18 holes" and "Why not a *full* 9 holes - with Par 3s and 4s and even a Par 5, coming in at about 3100 yards?"
I'd be the type to ask: "What's with all this new outside the box thinking?" "What's wrong with the game as it's always been played?" "Why have 'pick your own routings'?" "Why have "pick your own tees'?"
In short - for all the affection and acclaim that TD's gotten from this group of 1500, I'd say: beware! Lurking here silently are, I believe, many many golfers just like me who don't actually *want* anything all that different. Mammoth Dunes maybe; the Mulligan definitely not!
To use Tom's word from this thread, we like "freedom" - but not too much of it! We like *making* shots, not *inventing* them.
Peter