All kidding aside though, the greens are often what makes or breaks a course. How many times have we played a course that had much merit from tee to green only to be sorely disappointed when we finally got to the putting surfaces? Greens that are either too flat and boring or don't have enough relatively flat areas for pin placements can ruin an otherwise good looking course.
Green complexes that are well thought out can actually start to test the player long before he ever reaches them. A narrow, angled green makes the approach position critical, especially if you're using a less lofted club, this in turn, tests the players skill from the tee as he tries to put the ball in the best possible spot to attack the green. On a testing course, this ideal 'target zone' from tee might be tricky to find, being protected by slopes or hazards and the like.
Invariably a strategic design would place some sort of hazard near to this ideal playing area, thus forcing the brave player to execute his shot well and the not so brave to find himself with a much harder approach angle.
Angled greens are easy to spot on a hole planner, but it's possible to use the same strategy in a much more subtle way. Instead of angling the green you might create green slopes that a golfer has to overcome. Below is a simple illustration that shows that although the green in itself isn't narrow, the effect of positioning the slopes along the front sides has a similar effect and creates a less obvious obstacle to the flag.
As you can see, there's a lot more to green slopes than just the effect it has on putting. I've always thought that the areas of the green that are 'pinable' that is to say, are suitable for the placing of the hole, should have different challenges and obstacles which require a different strategy in order to hit onto that particular section of the green. Perhaps an obvious example might be a long two tiered green with a bunker protecting the front. If the hole was placed on the bottom tier, close to the bunker, a high flying, soft landing shot might be required, if however, the hole sits on the top tier, a lower shot that pitches on the front portion and runs up to the top section might be the best option.
There are virtually limitless possibilities for creating interesting and varied green complexes and on each and every course, no two should be alike.
On my new course, I'll be trying to break up each green into 4 or 5 different sections, sometimes these won't be obvious at first glance as the separations might be much more subtle than a simple tier (although you may find these too) These areas will be fairly flat so as not to cause problematic situations such as 2 foot putts with 3 feet of break!
The pins will be 'clumped' in batches in these areas as Links requires that all 18 pins be planted in order for it to correctly use the pin settings from within the simulation.
There is no good green in the world that has the scope for 18 completely different and fair pin locations, hence the 'clumping'.
Here's the kicker though - if you hit onto the wrong section or miss the green and have to come across one or more different sections, trust me, you will have your hands full, trying make an up and down. In my experience, the best and most interesting courses I know of, have quite slopey greens in this fashion. To name a few - Augusta, St Andrews, Cypress Point, Pine Valley etc.
I'll leave you with a tip which was passed on to me by a good tour caddy in a practice round for one of the events I played in as a professional. I was faced with a putt on a fast green, across such a tricky slope. My instincts were to play to the top of the slope and then let the ball trickle down to the hole and perhaps even go in! I tried this multiple times as it was a practice round, and each time the ball got to the crest with virtually no momentum, but once it was over, it gathered speed and I simply could not stop the ball anywhere near the hole.
My caddy pointed out to me that if I played the shot in a completely different direction, the slope was less severe and I would in fact be able to stop the ball much closer to the hole. I know this sounds obvious, but seriously, up until that point it had never occurred to me to do that.
After a few more practice attempts in the new direction, I found I was able to stop the ball within 5 or 6 feet of the hole leaving me a fairly easy, slightly uphill putt for my two putt. I used this technique many times after that day and it saved me endless shots and a whole lot of wasted hot air, complaining about 'unfair' pin positions!
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