ARMCHAIR ARCHITECT
The "S" Word: Can strategybe defined?
By Derek Duncan,
Senior Writer
(This is the first installment of a multi-part series on the notion of "strategy")
Some of us who write about golf -- especially those proclaiming a love for Golden Age design, naturalism, minimalism, and any of the other fringe or slightly iconoclastic strains of golf course architecture -- love to bandy about the word strategic.
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Strategic seems positively oiled with meaning. We use it as a description, verification, a gold standard. When we choose to be discerning about course design, critical even, strategy becomes a weapon, a club, a secret handshake. If we don't approve of a golf course it's a good bet it's because it isn't strategic enough for our oh-so sophisticated tastes.
In short, strategic is often a code word for "good."
There's a problem with this, and it isn't that the concept of strategy is a faulty one by which to judge golf courses. It's that strategy, as a means of judging a golf course, almost defies definition.
Defining Strategy
What is strategy? Ask yourself the question, then let is marinate for a little while, resisting first impressions. As with religion, ethics, relativity vs. quantum mechanics, etc. -- the Big Questions -- the more the strategy issue is explored to more it begins to resemble Socratic dialogue, begetting pop-up questions without getting any closer to a definitive answer. Simple and compact conclusions soon spin into elaborate, even solipsistic lines of inquiry.
Pondering the variations and applications of strategy and how it pertains to different aspects of design can keep you awake at night (or put you to sleep, depending on your disposition). All it seems to do is branch and splinter and double back on itself. Frankly, you're better off not thinking about it too deeply. Unfortunately, it's too late for me.
For example, what's a strategic hole? Is it one with a centerline hazard that forces the player
to play either left or right of it? Is it a par 5 that's short enough to be reached in two, if the
player wants to take a chance? Can a hole with a fairway 100 yards wide be strategic? Can a hole
with a fairway 100 yards wide not be strategic? If there is an optimum position in the fairway from
which to attack the green, is that a strategic, or prescriptive design? And for that matter, what
is a strategic course?
If the answer is that a strategic hole/course is one that makes the golfer "think" about how to play the shot, my response is, what hole or golf course doesn't? Have you ever played a shot that didn't require thought? Merely selecting a target to aim for -- whether it's a tree, the middle of the green, or somewhere in a big fairway -- requires some degree of calculation. So is strategy dependent upon the degree of thought involved? Or is it dependent upon options? If there are options, does that mean it's strategic?
As a follow-up, if the baseline definition for strategy is something along the lines of, a plan of action on how to play a particular golf hole or course, what does it have to do with the golf course itself since every hole requires thought, even if it's simple thought? Is strategy something that's embedded in the course, or is it dependent upon the mindset of the player? It gets confusing, doesn't it, because strategic courses, rich with options and variability, can be played non-strategically, ploddingly and senselessly; strategy, as such, can be ignored, or over-ridden.
Strategy vs. Anti-Strategy
Let's look at it another way. Are golf courses with diminished options - conventionally labeled "penal"(or even boring) golf courses - necessarily anti-strategic? The penal/boring course has historically been considered anathema to the strategic course, but exploration of this further muddles the concept of strategy.
Think of a long straight par-4 hole with a narrow fairway, high rough, bunkers (or water, or trees) tightly flanking the landing area, and bunkers protecting the green's front left and front right. On this hole most amateur players have one goal: put the ball in the fairway. The success of the tee shot is judged solely on that one criterion. The goal on the following shot is to get the ball on the green, or safely close to it. In this case neither the golf hole nor the plan of attack -- avoid trouble! -- seems very strategic.
But advanced players will look at the green, see where the pin is cut, and plot backwards. Because she has the ability to place her shots more precisely than the average golfer, her criteria for success becomes more specific: the pin is cut over the left side bunker, so I want to place my drive as close to the right side fairway hazard as possible for the best angle of approach. Same hole, but suddenly there's strategy to it.
This introduces another factor in considering in the concept of strategy: the ability of the golfer. Generally the more accomplished the player, the more strategy is necessarily going be involved, especially if systematically plotting your way around a golf course is any measure of strategic veracity. Even on conventionally non-strategic holes such as the one above, accomplished players will be reading and reacting.
Ironically, the more strategy-apparent the hole is, the less strategic it usually plays for the
top-flight golfer. A hole with dual fairways, or one with a centerline hazard with fairway to both
sides of it, will usually be an incredibly "strategic" hole to the average player who deliberates
uncertainly over her choices. The advanced player, however, will typically decipher immediately
which route is more advantageous given the pin and the conditions of the day, dismissing the
alternative shot altogether. Then it simply becomes a matter of execution.
Even at the mother of all "strategic" courses, St. Andrews, there is a correct and incorrect way to play the course given particular conditions and pins. Once good players discover the road map, they rarely deviate from it.
So the more obvious the strategic conundrum on a strategic hole is, the less strategic the hole often plays for the accomplished player. Conversely, subtle features and set-ups that emphasize angles of play and shot-selection often go unnoticed to the high handicap player, setting up a sort of inverse Subjective vs. Utilitarian strategy dichotomy.
None of this is to say that golf courses cannot play strategically - of course they can and they do. But are they, themselves, strategic? It is to say that perhaps that our lexicon is too lax when utilizing the concept, that there's no pure model for Strategy, or The Strategic Course. Some golf courses reward strategic play more than others, but that doesn't make them strategic in a Platonic sense. I want to start thinking of strategy as an approach to a shot or a golf course design, rather than an innate quality or a characteristic.
In the next column we will examine different types of courses that theoretically (or realistically) reward to various degrees a strategic approach, including courses that oppose the golfer through decision-making conflicts, risk-reward opportunities, recovery/penal set-ups, and blends of all three.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.
