It's generally agreed that a good golf course features holes and shots that extend across each of the consensus three schools of architectural styles: penal, heroic, and strategic.
Strategic golf (rightfully so in my opinion) is having a lasting moment in first position, but my own poor play at Wilshire just after the LPGA tournament got me thinking of a couple ideas I'd like to hear others discuss.
Wilshire's architect, Norman MacBeth, was a talented player. He also developed as a golfer at Royal Lytham & St. Anne's, an Open venue known for its difficulty. Though I haven't played Lytham, the Confidential Guide mentions there are over 200 bunkers at Lytham whose "deep pits are genuine hazards that must be respected." Greens are surrounded by circular pot bunkers. Fairways, if not laid out adjacent to the railway, oftentimes have bunkers set on both sides for wayward tee shots or approaches. Of the three schools to choose from, Lytham seems to embody more penal elements than the other two choices.
It seems to me MacBeth incorporated much of Lytham's character into his design at Wilshire, for Wilshire also features a significant number of fairway bunkers that frequently result in at least a half shot penalty. A friend of mine at Lakeside, and a previous champion of Wilshire's annual MacBeth tournament, finds the course aggravatingly penal at times, because even for good players, a well struck shot just a touch off the mark can find its way into a fairway bunker that may prevent a shot to the green. Me? I both disagree and agree with him, for in the past year I've had one of my lowest scores at Wilshire as well as one of my highest. And good player I am not.
In a rudimentary hole by hole analysis, where I select which school is most prominent on the particular hole, I'd name eight or nine holes of the course as penal. These are holes where bunkers, the barranca, or out of bounds line both sides of the fairway in some combination (1, 2, 6, 8, 11, 16); or where on the par 3s, a missed green most assuredly means the ball is in sand or the barranca instead of grass (4, 7). But at the same time, when you feel in control of your ball, Wilshire's length and the placement of its myriad bunkers is captivatingly strategic, because you can select when to keep driver in the bag and thoughtfully work your way around the course. On a day when you can't manage to hit fairways or greens, however, the feel of the course can change right before your eyes in a Jekyll and Hyde way, and the reach of the sand and barranca appears to grow exponentially.
That said, I admire Wilshire. It is a multi-faceted members club that, depending on the day, can feel approachable and strategic, or downright challenging.
My general question is: what other courses, specifically golden age or older, may be conclusively more penal than heroic and strategic, yet continue to receive admiration?