Wigs,
If you ask Fazio, he might say that he should have at least 100 on the list. Given his huge production volume and egually astounding construction budgets, he should be hitting home runs much of the time even if his (group's) skills are only average.
For what it is worth, during my time on the GW panel, I did notice a bias against Fazio. Perhaps it was no more than the natural higher expectations based on the resources normally made available to him ("those who have received much, from them much will be expected” Luke 12:48). I think he got short changed on the River Course at Kiawah, with the overtly manufactured sister course, Cassique, cracking the Top 100. Briggs Ranch in San Antonio and Escondido in Horseshoe Bay (TX) are two other Fazio courses which should make the list comfortably.
OT, any thoughts on Saturday?
John Kavanaugh,
Your intimation that playing a lot of courses is a bad thing seems counterintuitive. Yet when I see Brad Klein offer "over-production" as a legitimate reason for a rater expulsion, I must conclude that I am missing something. I always thought that the more one involves himself with the subject matter the better his knowledge and contributions will be. While Paul and I have had our differences on non-golf issues, I admire his devotion to seeing as many of the best courses as possilbe. I did not even know he was a rater until very recently, so this is something he must have been doing for quite some time.
Mike Cirba,
A rater paying a green fee or buying softgoods has no relevance to the rating process. Experience, diligence, care, preparation, discernment and open-mindness are the key. Not patronizing you at all, but you have demonstrated to me these prerequisites on a number of occasions. There are not enough of us who will travel eight to ten hours out of our way to see a single course. In Texas, the worthy Rawls Course suffers from that fate, and I am sure there are a number others elsewhere.