Joel - I know I'm in a minority regarding Friar's Head. The potato field holes are tactically strong but esthetically unappealing.
I'm a setting guy which may mean I put more emphasis on scenery than I should. To me, the getaway golfing experience is important and I rank courses the best that get me furtherest from the office. I just played Dismal, Ballyneal and Sand Hills which are great getaways. I love Rock Creek, Prairie Club, Sutton, Bandon, Raven Course at Snowshoe and many many others, worldwide, for the same reasons. Bandon Trails and Clear Creek capture my heart. as does the back nine at Friars. We can argue the technical ingredients of the architect-player defend-attack interplay until we are blue in the face. At the end of the day the degree in which a course captures your heart, for both tactical and esthetic reasons, is our personal measure of course quality.
JC