Thank you all for participating in my little survey. I've gotten a number of other private responses which added to the interest.
Here's my take on the results:
1. I am considered a sacred cow by many, which is too bad. If that's the case then I have nothing to learn from being here. Feedback is essential to growth. I HAVE gotten some good feedback over the years, and I'm even trying to respond to it with some of my current design work, but there are less and less posters who are providing it, and some of them lay it on so thick that it's difficult to cut through the cliches to get to the point.
2. It's not just me. Pretty much any architect who participates here regularly is automatically deemed to be a good guy, and polite discourse prevents all but a handful of posters from really asking a serious question about design. The same holds true for Bill Coore and Gil Hanse and Mike Strantz (for the saddest of reasons) even though they don't actually post.
3. Despite denials by various posters, I believe that National, Shinnecock Hills, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Pine Valley, Friars Head, The Kingsley Club, Cypress Point, The Old Course at St. Andrews, and especially Seth Raynor are indeed Sacred Cows on this site. All the hair-splitting about them being above criticism was just comical. Only an idiot would argue that they aren't great courses, but that doesn't mean that you can't learn something about architecture by discovering something that they are lacking ... but anyone who suggests such a thing is subject to immediate Guantanamo-style interrogation.
4. There is also the converse, for which I can't think of a proper term ... "Devil Incarnate" is a little strong, but that's how some people treat certain architects and/or courses. I don't understand why we can't just cut through the b.s. and analyze a golf hole on a Jim Engh or Tom Fazio or Rees Jones course, without it devolving into personal attacks on their motives or style.
5. There seem to be very few living architects in between the Sacred Cow or Devil Incarnate categories, therefore we don't really discuss anybody's work. And that is the real reason why most modern architects dismiss this site as a worship place for Old Dead Guys ... they're all we've got left to talk about.
6. I am bothered that there seem to be a handful of posters who think of themselves as the police of the site, who report politically-incorrect infractions to Mr. Morrissett ... and that Mr. Morrissett seems to respond accordingly. Y'all know who you are. And there's nothing worse than somebody who thinks they should be a sacred cow. I will check back here in a month to see if that point has been deleted!
7. Since a fair percentage of people seem to think I participate here mostly as a self-promoter, I have determined not to respond on any thread which discusses any of my courses in general. Often, I'm drawn in because someone asks a question about something that I can answer, but that's when I come across as self-promoting. So, if you want to ask me a question, start a thread that invites me in. Otherwise I'll just read and hope to God that the level of analysis and discourse here picks up a notch in the months ahead.
Best wishes,
Tom D