Are American Courses Too Easy

[gas_can]

I just posted this story at thesandtrap.com. After playing rounds a local links-style course I realized just how much more I enjoy the challenge of links golf over regular ultra-manicured courses which have become the standard these days.

So what does everyone think? Is course design starting to hurt the American talent pool?

[iacas]

I don't think our loss in the Ryder Cup had anything to do with the Europeans playing on more Euro-type courses. It was an American course, target golf, fly-it-through-the-air-and-stick-it type of layout.

The rest? Sure. Chipping and pitching for example - we have lots of places with finely maintained areas. In Europe, they face hardpan lies, clumpy lies, dirt, and all manner of things more frequently than we do here.

So I'm 60/40, but leaning towards "we have some pretty crappy courses right here in the US, too!"