The self-reflective turn on this tread may have broader implications.
Let me start with a quote from Tom Doak lifted from the recent thread started by Peter Pallotta entitled, "What has the ASGCA done for students?"
Doak writes:
"In the end, though, this argument really comes down to how one views the profession of golf course design. I always believed that golf course design was a part of the artistic/entertainment field, much like writing or moviemaking, where criticism on artistic grounds is accepted and allowed, and in fact considered essential to the growth of the industry. Many ASGCA members see the business as a profession like engineering or medicine, where competence is the only issue to be addressed. In that light, my writings in The Confidential Guide were certainly beyond the pale, because I sometimes implied that architects were incompetent, when I only meant their work lacked artistry. In fact, sad but true, some of them were never going for "artistry" at all."
I honestly don't know if I have ever played a Robert Trent Jones Jr course but I have played a couple Robert Trent Jones Sr courses: Oakcreek Country Club in Sedona Arizona and Kananaskis near Banff Alberta. Each location offers the kind of slack-jawed beauty that gets people from all over the world to travel there just to take it all in.
However, in the case of both Oakcreek and Kananaskis, I came away feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the experience. I enjoyed these courses, yes, but each seemed less than it could have been and more specifically, each seemed eerily similar to the other, like a template had been applied to the terrain. Artistry and indviduality seemed to be missing, but perhaps for good reason. The attempt at artistry may never have been made.
On the other hand, from what I read here about Chambers Bay, and from the comments of Robert Trent Jones Jr posted, it suggests to me that artistry was very much an underlying and important motive driving the design.
This in turn suggests to me that (former?) critics such as Doak and discussion groups such as GCAtlas have had a significant and positive effect on the direction of golf course architecture in general.