I would have jumped in sooner, but unlike most of you I have to work for a living and had things to attend to. If I had gotten in sooner, I would have marveled at how nice it is to see a thread develop some continuity and momentum -- then JVB had to ruin it. Oh well.
As John Kirk obviously now sees, my review of We-Ko-Pa's Saguaro Course didn't ever claim the site was flat. Not with 90+ feet of elevation change (low point is 5th tee; high point is 16th green). I was referring to C&C's temperament and their ability to do a lot with a little bit of contour. Talking Stick-North is a great example of that. So my point was that they don't need to have a lot of ground movement, nautral or artifical, to make for interesting elements. As for the contrast mode, I would classicy Dye, Engh and Fazio among those who need to build a lot in to create interest, whereas with C&C a very few feet go a long way.
I like Lloyd Cole's suggestion a lot about a specific reference to walkability and under what management conditions; I'll make that part of all future reviews. In the case of We-Ko-Pa's Saguaro Course, the answer is you can walk and carry your own at any time, and it will be very interesing to see how many golfers take them up on it.
John Kirk's perception that this is the second time in these reviews I've used my own critera (the other being C&C's Bandon Trails) isn't right, I'm sure. First, please note I've been writing 8-9 of these a year since late 2001, which makes for about 50 of these, and am often offering votes of my own at odds with what most GW raters seem to be saying -- or in any case, I'm saying what i think. I recall a 5.5 vote for C&C's Easthampton GC in 2002, for example. And I nowhere indicate here or suggest that they are (I'm paraphrasing) the best design team working these days.
I'd never make that claim of anyone. On the Modern list (since 1960) C&C currently have 7 courses, but that number is surpassed by Nicklaus, Fazio and Dye, and I don't think that takes any of them "the best" either.
So much of what a designer does has to do with the site, their approach, their budget, the contractor and the time they take. I wish more designers did what C&C do, which is to say "no" when they are not thrilled with the site. And I wish more designers took the time they do to get the routing right rather than to squeeze or hammer it in.