![\"\"](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2011\/08\/IMG_1393.jpg\")
<\/a>The natural look: the 8th hole at Narin & Portnoo<\/p><\/div>\n
No need to deconstruct Phil Mickelson\u2019s motives for criticizing the Atlanta Athletic Club layout as being detrimental to the popularization of golf. And it\u2019s easy to dismiss his concern about it being unplayable for members: With the exception of the criminally insane among them, the members won\u2019t be undergoing a test nearly as severe.<\/p>\n
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Yet there is something about the PGA Championship set-up tangentially related to static rates of public participation (although there\u2019s also no reason to single it out). The most common term applied to the Highlands Course seems to be \u201cimmaculate.\u201d Not only is the grooming preternatural, the water features, with their stone retaining walls, tell you that the course is highly sculpted, the terrain altered.<\/p>\n
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The acceptance of such conditioning as the game\u2019s default standard has contributed to the golf industry\u2019s current predicament via increased costs for course construction and maintenance. A recent trip to some great seaside links in the northwest of Ireland <\/a>highlighted the alternative approach.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I know. Not all sites look like the Shannon Estuary or Broadhaven Bay. What\u2019s more, any number of completely \u201cfabricated\u201d courses \u2013 Bayonne Golf Club springs to mind \u2013 are great layouts. Interestingly, though, even courses like Bayonne most often embrace a minimalist design esthetic.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n #\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"