They are, but they are in some cases 50' apart with almost identical lines to the pin. Feels...dirty calling it 18 holes.
Agree calling some of these 18 holes feels wrong.
Maple Hill would be what, 90 holes?
are the tee signs numbered 1-18? that's Tim's real litmus test, for now anyway
Since Maple Hill Tee signs only go 1-18, it would only be considered 18 holes, per Dread's post. There are a myriad of different layouts you can play that 18 holes, but it's still 18 holes, and calling it 18 just feels right.
As David said, one size doesn't fit all. Some courses really do have unique situations that don't fit in a standard check box, but those are relatively few and far between.
The important thing is to list courses so it's not misleading to the
traveling player. I'm
not saying travelers are more important than locals. Locals have far more impact on how a course develops, ages and evolves... everything. But it's far more important for traveling players to have good information about courses, so they can plan accordingly.
If you live within an hour or so of a course, how it's listed (as well as what it's rated or what people write about it) really isn't going to affect your decision making. Eventually, your gonna play it, and figure things out for yourself.
But most folks don't want to burn vacation time, plus $ for gas and lodging, to be underwhelmed by a course. Not because the course is underwhelming through any fault or shortcoming of the course on it's own. You feel underwhelmed because the listing/review/rating was misleading. When expectations are set and not met, it's usually disappointing.
Conversely, someone could play the same course, and come away with a totally different feel about the experience, if they went in with more accurate expectations, because those expectations were met.
