Not too long ago, Brad Klein told us that critical acclaim and popularity were quite different things. Presumably, a course widely enjoyed and highly regarded by the playing public may be actually rather ordinary or mediocre when examined from the learned, finely-tuned perspective of the critic.
Brad once suggested to me that I tended to like most of the courses I played. Playing the game I love, mostly at the top 200 to 300 courses in the country at that time, I was guilty as charged. Certainly, I didn't visit a new course with a predisposition to find fault (or be critical), though I had/have no problem differentiating or fleshing out things I liked or didn't like.
I've only played Medinah once, and though not among my personal favorites, it is a grand course. It is anything but boring in my opinion, difficult off the tee, but yet forgiving enough around the greens to allow for some well played recoveries. It is a course where one can use all the clubs in the bag to hit a wide variety of shots. And while three of the par 3s go over water, they play remarkably different. My largest negative was the sharpness of the R to L doglegs on a few par 4s.
As to the course being too difficult for the average player, I guess someone forgot to inform that chap. The course was packed on my only day there, and the member who hosted me told me that he has no shortage of friends, business associates and clients who drop whatever they're doing on a moment's notice for a round on #3. I know that his two other guests were in no hurry to get their round over with despite the triple digit scores they were accumulating. BTW, this is the opposite of my experience at Winged Foot, where my host and his guests often prefer the less demanding East Course. Maybe having more forgiving greens and surrounds on an already difficult course from tee to green is not such a bad thing.