A few random thoughts;
Re the 17th - as a short uphill semi-blind par 3 it isn't as good as the 5th at Covesea.
Seriously though, I thought it worked fairly well for the Open although they never played it in a stiff breeze. The obvious comparison to make with it is with the Postage Stamp which is different in so much as the tee shot plays down hill to the green, and I understand that what is contemplated at Hoylake is raising the tee so that at least the shot isn't uphill to a raised green.
From what I also gather the other main change to the hole will be that they will create a bit more of a bail out short and right which the Postage Stamp doesn't have. I quite like that idea from the point of view that at Troon it is a simple do or die while at Hoylake the temptation will be there to bail and therefore a lot more players will be hugging the right side of the green. The other change I'd make is chopping back some of the vegetation over the back.
Final thought on 17, I think it was MacKenzie who wrote about members complaining bitterly about changes and then later coming to love what was done. With that in mind I don't think the hole needs drastic changes, after all, the Troon members have endured the difficulty of the Postage Stamp for over a hundred years and have come to embrace the challenge. I suspect the Hoylake members will come to embrace their hole in the same way.
Set-up - let me caveat my thoughts here by saying never been to Hoylake and only seen it on TV. Firstly the initial set up with the bunkers wasn't clever and could readily have been avoided. Fair play to the R&A in either recognising the error or giving in to players whinging, depending on what way you look at it. The main thing though that seemed strange was some of the contour style mowing on the fairways. There was some obvious bits where it made sense but there were also quite a few other bits where it looked a bit contrived to me. As I say, haven't been there.
Crowds - there is a tendency in this country to pat ourselves on the back about how knowledgeable our crowds are and how well behaved they are. Well after this year I don't think we can say that with any great conviction. It has been getting worse the last few years but this year the boorish shouting out, heckling (yes heckling !) and even booing of the leader as he walked on to the first tee were deplorable. We may still be better than other parts of the world but that shouldn't be the yard stick. It's time the organisers gave some serious thought on how to address this.
Sky TV - I couldn't agree more with Adrian's comments. Not interested in all the range stuff or celeb interviews, and the amount of chat/commentary, even while players are playing their shots is just a total distraction. Far too frenetic.
The Champion Golfer - I can't recall such a dominant display in the Open as Harmans this year. Unfortunately in these modern times we tend to get excited about celebrities and concentrate on those at the top of the rankings without giving those below full credit for such a stellar performance. I hope in future years this Open will be remembered for Harmans performance rather than being another year that Rory didn't win.
Niall