CASTLE STUART DESIGNER RESPONDS TO "TOO EASY" CRITICISM

FROM THE SPORT.SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
Mark Parsinen, the co-designer and managing partner of Castle Stuart, has hit back at criticism of the Inverness course being too easy for this year's Barclays Scottish Open, claiming golf needs more venues like it to protect the game's long-term health.
While admitting that some alterations are likely to be made to the course after the world No. 1, Luke Donald, lifted the title with a 19-under-par total for 54 holes, Parsinen is sticking by the generous fairways created by himself and fellow American Gil Hanse.
He also acknowledged that certain spectator issues needed to be addressed but remains convinced that the European Tour's newest venue provides "something special" in terms of its location on the banks of the Moray Firth.
"The course performed largely as we wanted," Parsinen told The Scotsman in an exclusive interview. "Not everybody gets or understands the kind of course we have with regard to the latitude of play off the tee. Our story would have been told better under prevailing wind directions but such is life that we didn't get what we wanted.
"However, our story will become clearer with time. I now have data that shows our wide fairways can require good decisions and execution to score better, but think it best that even the best players figure it our for themselves.
"They are not used to facing a wide fairway and deciding what to do. I am reassured on that front, however. The brand of golf on tour, in my opinion, has become a 'kick it through the uprights' brand of golf with very little interpretation, judgment, and subsequent choice off the tee except to get it in the fairway with as much distance off the tee as possible.
"Personally. I find this unfortunate and time will fully reveal the way the game is going and the issues it presents for the game's long-term health.
"I'm used to being criticised in a world of golf that seems embedded with an intellectual narrow mindedness that if it's not tight fairways, long rough, and high scoring relative to par, that the 'test' of the best players is inadequate or the course not very good."

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