Neither Vista nor Fountain are as challenging as they might appear. The OB is generous, there are only a few holes where the putt is dangerous, and both courses are essentially wide open. If you play the courses in low winds (like this year) they are incredibly easy to attack and put up an incredible score. And even when the winds are up (last two years) it's possible to put up a low the score if you play safe, so it's uncommon to see a 42 at Vista or a 45 at Fountain. In fact, most of the top fifty pros shot a round rating over 1000 at Vista. Make all the PAR 4's into PAR 3's and you would still have an easy course. The courses need to be re-imagined. The Pro circuit needs bigger challenges to take the comfort level out of play. Strategy and the ability to mentally/emotionally overcome adversity should be prominent elements of the game, not "who can bomb over 500." Though, to be fair, the ability to crush it doesn't necessarily mean you're a good player or that you're a winner. There are hundreds of players who can throw over 500 and it means very little. I believe Schusterick threw over 500 feet at Vista yesterday, out driving his opponents by 100 or more feet. They all got 3s - except for Feldberg who took a 4. The point is, his distance didn't make a difference. What would have made a difference would be if he second-guessed his drive because of water, or giving himself no second shot. The course needs to bite back. I would like to think that the reason a great player is great is because under pressure they were able to perform where others would collapse.
