Too much risk at Engh's True North?

I'm a big fan of Jim Engh's work and a peek at the layout of his design at Michigan's True North Golf Club only reminds me why.The sparing use of sand in cunningly-positioned pot bunkers is a welcome change from the splash-it-on variety and I like the low road, high road routes on the 18th.

I have my reservations about the par 5 7th, though. The minimalist in me likes to see a green guarded by one form of defence rather than two and while either pond or sand alone could have done the job, I just wonder whether an alliance of the two tips the risk-reward scales too much towards the risk end.

This is particularly so when you consider the type of bunker Engh has gone for, as he describes at 4:38 in the accompanying video. Sand is only part of the deal in this fissure bunker; even if you avoid it by a couple of feet, you still have a grim shot from sloping rough.

I just wonder if such an intense fortification might deter more people than the designer would wish from trying for the green with their second shot. I'd be interested to know what others think.

Interesting but gratifying, incidentally, that the observation "Typically, architects and engineers don't function well together" should survive the video edit...
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Pic of the Day - Bath Approach pitch and putt, England