Quirky Design in Golf Course Architecture

When talking about my favorite golf courses I often describe them as being quirky. Two of my very favorite courses on earth are National Golf Links and Merion East, both of which I feel feature some real quirk. Both of these courses are from the teens and have a bit of a vernacular design quality to them. In other words, there really wasn't an established template (for lack of a better word) for what constituted acceptable or "normal" design features at that time. The Old Course has informed golf course architecture more than any other golf course, and I would be hard pressed to think of a more quirky collection of golf holes. There are many other examples of great golf courses that are also quirky, North Berwick for example. I'm sure that you, if you think about golf course architecture could cite your own examples.

I value quirk so much that I've often tried to think about it as a fourth principle of design. Strategic, Heroic, Penal, and Quirky. But can quirky really be designed, and if it is, does it come across as inauthentic? I don't necessarily think so, I think the 7th at Ballyneal is a tremendously fun golf hole that is quirky as hell, but doesn't feel like a party trick. But I can see that a modern golf course design trying to get too cute, or lean into quirk too much could elicit scorn from a lot of players. So I ask you, could quirkiness be a design principle or is it merely a byproduct of unique landforms or features that the routing is required to play over or around? It certainly feels more prevalent in older golf courses, but I'd welcome further examples of modern quirky designs; Ones that you feel pursue the goal successfully or even ones that you feel were less successful in it.