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It wouldn't be a Major these days without players lining up to castigate the course, but Friday's collective attack on Oakland Hills was indicative of growing resentment among the ranks, writes Eurosport-Yahoo!'s Will Tidey.

Not so long ago golf's top table were debating how best to deal with a new generation of mega-hitting super-golfers, who appeared capable of reducing their prestigious layouts to pitch and putt courses with giant metal woods shaped like spaceships.

In 2000, Tiger Woods arrived at the home of golf, St Andrews, and proceeded to smash the living daylights out of it to win The Open at 19-under-par - the lowest total in Majors history.

A month later the world number one finished tied with Bob May at 15-under-par in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla - another record total (Woods inevitably won the play-off).

Golf's top table were not happy. The power balance between man and course had shifted dramatically and the day was coming when a par total could miss the cut.

Almost overnight, course designers began to add length wherever possible. New tee boxes were built in their hundreds and reachable par fives were transformed to epic par fours.

Fairways were narrowed, bunkers deepened and rough grown impossibly thick. The message was simple: put par at a premium.

Fast forward eight years and it's safe to say the revenge of the golf course is complete.

The class of 2008 - Augusta, Torrey Pines, Royal Birkdale and Oakland Hills - have unquestionably made for the most testing Majors year on record.

Predictably, the players are far from happy.

"The set-up here is lousy," said Australia's Robert Allenby (pictured) of Oakland Hills on Friday after shooting a two-over-par 72.

"It's not enjoyable to play. They have taken an OK golf course and turned it into a lot of crap. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it."

Chubby Chandler, a former Tour player who looks after many of the world's top players through his company International Sports Management, went further still.

"The PGA of America is supposed to be in the business of getting young people to play golf," he said.

"But watching this event is only going to get people more interested in baseball.

"This is a Major championship that does nothing to promote the game," he said. "Were I a youngster watching this in England, I'd be taking up 20-20 cricket.

"It really is impossible for the players to come off the course looking anything but shell-shocked. How can they be happy after five hours of misery? I can't blame the players for getting fed up. It takes too long to get round when the greens are this fast."

So what's the answer? Should the governing bodies bow to the pressure of their star players?

Is golf cutting off its nose to spite its face and turning potential fans away from the game by asking us to watch players struggle round desperately hard courses?

In the humble opinion of this column, the answer to both questions is emphatically no.

Anybody under the illuision that generous courses make for greater entertainment only need recall the irresistable drama of Augusta, Torrey Pines and Royal Birkdale this year.

All three served to reveal true character in those who prevailed and identify the weaknesses in those who fell away.

There's a reason they call them the Majors, and it's safe to say those who continue to bemoan the difficulty of the courses are unlikely to win one anytime soon.

Will Tidey / Eurosport