Ken F:
With all due respect Winged Foot / West and Riviera are more thorough in exposing weaknesses than Prairie Dunes and Fisher's Island respectively. If you look at all four courses and take away the unpredictable aspects of wind and weather and simply examine each of the courses against each other in my mind it's no contest. And my assessment is not based solely on the aspect of difficulty as you mentioned.
I thoroughly enjoyed the times I've played Prairie Dunes and Fisher's Island but we're talking apples and oranges here when WF / West and Riviera are pushed THAT FAR down the listing.
Regarding Hazeltine -- the course is a bit better than many on GCA might think. The additional changes that were carried out by Rees Jones work out well and my point rested more on the case of Interlachen and White Bear both breaking into the top 50. Here's two examples where the pedigree of the designer and the aspect of quirk have received more fanfare than they rightly should, in my opinion.
I do have to offer a mea cupla I mispoke in stating that Hazeltine did not make the top 100 -- it did among the modern listing.
It's good to see more modern courses were cited -- 35 altogether from the resort and municipal side of the ledger but 20 were grouped together in the second fifty of that total.
Couple of points -- how does the Irish Course at Whistling Straits crack the top 100 modern? In my book it benefits from close proximity to the main layout. No way is this course a top 100 modern selection. It's Pete Dye (who I admire greatly) gone beserk!
There is no way that Arcadia Bluff (#26) is that far ahead of The Kingsley Club (#56). I'd love to see the rating analysis / evaluation of those who played both courses and have them explain to me how they see the courses being that far apart.
Minus the immediate nature of Lake Michigan to the property of Arcadia I don't see much difference between the courses at all. In my mind it's a dead heat at worst and TKC slightly ahead.
Couple of others to wonder about ...
Eugene CC (#33)
Quintero (#45)
Lost Dunes (#48) It's good no doubt ... but that good?
Raven Course at Snowshoe Mountain (#54) surely someone jests!
Links at ND at Red Mike Resort -- like the course but is it really that good at #57 or is it a testament to its remote location?
On the flip side ...
How does Wolf Creek at Paradise Canyon (Mesquite, NV) only get in at #98? The course is, in my opinion, the 2nd best in the Silver State.
On the plus side ...
Kudos to the placement of Paa-Ko-Ridge, but how does Pinon Hills not make it from the same state?
More to follow ...