Tim,
to answer you question. I do not think that anything other than a 'natural looking' finish will do it for you because you seem to be fixed into a mindset that 'natural looking' is the only way something fits into the landscape. For me this outlook is really blinkered, narrow and limits the imagination of the GCA too much.
Your example of NB and the bunkers is missing the point. What makes the 13th such a great hole is the setting of the green of which the wall at the front plays a major roll. The wall is very obviously a manmade object yet it fits the landscape perfectly. If I were to follow the 'natural look' philosophy then I would rip out the wall and replace it with a diagonal cross bunker. This in my opinion would be detrimental to the hole and course in my opinion. The same could be said for most of the walls on the course.
As I said in my last post, most of the courses I really like have a certain amount of manmade-ness about them.
Jon
Jon,
I think your point enhances my argument. To repeat - I am not against manmade elements being on course, and your example of the wall at the 13th is a perfect example! BUT! No one objects to it, because it has a natural appearance of having been there for 100s of years, and fits in with the entire area, where similar walls can be found throughout East Lothian! A perfect example of a manmade feature having a natural appearance relative to the site. The stone and the purpose are indeed natural to the site. Exactly what I am a proponent for.
What would be odd is if the wall was made of red brick. It serves the same purpose, and yet, it has no natural tie-in with the surrounding area, and has no natural appearance to it whatsoever.
That's what I'm advocating. I have no problem with manmade features, and as articulated above, I agree that the feature that makes the hole interesting is the first priority. But where possible, it should have a natural appearance that is in keeping with the surrounding.
It only seems that many on here are too narrowly defining what natural means by what M&E and others are doing at the moment - i.e. squiggly line bunkers.
Going back to the New Zealand bunker - I don't think it's natural because the edges aren't symmetrical. I think it's natural because it does a wonderful job of incorporating the feature of the site (the heather) into the design, and follows the lines that one might find anywhere else on the site.