Tom Huckaby,
Nothing says that you can't sell magazines by having a more candid methodology for establishing ratings. Or, that you can't sell magazines by removing the fudge factors.
If you feel that there should be a "tradition" category for raters, then the criteria for determining same has to be such that it can be communicated to the raters and consistent in its application.
You can't say, as Tom Doak pointed out, that Seminole gets points because Hogan loved it, and other courses get tradition points for reasons other than having Hogan love it.
There has to be some universal, some standard that requires consistency.
Atlantic has hosted a USGA championship and an MGA championship in its brief existance, shouldn't that give it the maximum points available under tournament, especially when compared to courses that have been around 50-100 years that have hosted nothing in the last 30-40 years.
I find the ambiance factor disengenuous as it's really an age related factor.
Let's discuss the ambiance factor.
The Medalist in Florida has ambiance and more importantly, members and staff make you feel as though you are a member. I've been to other clubs, that make you feel about as uncomfortable as you can get, yet, they get ambiance points. That's not just a joke, it strikes to the core of the rating PROCESS/CRITERIA. It is a material flaw irrespective if it works out for Sand Hills or any other golf course.
Based on the information provided by you and others, it also indicates that two clubs can NEVER be on equal footing if one is from the turn of the century and the other a recent creation.
To just cite a few clubs as examples,
What tradition does Somerset Hills have ?
What ambiance does Somerset Hills have ?
How does Somerset Hills compare/differ from The Medalist in these two categories ?
Insert Maidstone, NGLA and any other courses you want in this exercise, and I think you'll see the inconsistency, and the need to remove "tradition".
But, that's just my opinion, TEPaul is still wrong.