You can get by with less, but it won't be a first class golf facility, and there’s something about having to wear a hard hat while playing a golf course that detracts from the overall experience.

This is not the case with the old Scottish links courses, such as St. Andrews, however, a good example of this operational principle, even with a links type design, is Pete Dye’s Ocean Course at Kiawah. Each nine runs 'outbound' and 'inbound' along the ocean but on opposite sides of the clubhouse.

National statistics show that a significantly higher percentage of golfers tend to slice rather than hook their tee shots.

Merion East’s 14^th hole is a good example of out of bounds left, although I’ve put a few tee shots in the front yards neighboring that hole, but their second hole violates this design principle by having Ardmore Avenue on the right. I’ve heard stories about some of the golf ball and car collisions that occur at that location, and I almost caused two of them myself the last time I was there.

A stray golf shot will do less damage if it’s traveling in the same direction as the vehicle it hits. I think this idea is rooted somewhere in the laws of Physics. In addition, following this design principle will lessen the chance of a golf ball becoming embedded in a driver’s forehead, which is not a pretty thought.

Pine Valley has numerous examples of this principle, however, playing around the trouble may also double the length of each hole. Their par 3 fifth hole is a notable exception, because you have to hit your tee shot 225 yards over a ravine with a lake at the bottom. The only way to avoid that clearly visible trouble is to put the ball in your pocket and walk to the green via the adjacent clubhouse driveway.

Another factor comes into play in these types of trouble situations, the male ego. It’s the 'I know I should play it safe, but I’m going for it anyway' syndrome that results in more triple bogies than the hazards on the course.

William Flynn used the Redan hole on virtually every course he designed, and you can see examples of this at Huntingdon Valley’s hole number 3 and Manufacturer’s hole number 4. The 12^th hole at Augusta National is somewhat similar to the Redan hole, however, the hazard, known to all as Ray's Creek, is to the right rather than to the left.

Most players spend more time in the rough than they do in the closely cut area of the golf course, and the people who always keep it in the fairway don’t need the yardage markers anyway, because they already know the distances.

When you’re slashing it all over the range, you don’t need your friends on the terrace giving you pointers, and you certainly don’t want to talk about your bad swing when you finally get to the lunch table.

One of the exciting moments I witnessed in golf occurred when a member of my foursome hit his approach shot to Philadelphia Cricket Club's 18^th green, and it flew unimpeded onto the dining terrace beyond and to the left of the green. Unfortunately it was lunchtime, and diners all over the terrace had to 'duck and cover' to avoid the ricocheting missile.

There’s always a joke that one guy wants to tell the other without having to drastically modify it for mixed company, and there are times when one needs to relieve a variety of gastro-intestinal pressures without having to say 'excuse me'.