Jim F. and I played at Aldarra in 2008 and both really enjoyed the course--I didn't know much about the course other than its rating in Golf Digest but we wanted a third course to play along with Sahalee and Chambers Bay. Chambers was definitely our favorite of the trip, but I'd play Aldarra 8-2 in 10 more rounds over Sahalee. I can see how it fits the Digest criteria better than GolfWeek, but I think its one of the 100 best modern courses in the USA. There's perhaps not enough greatness to push it higher than that, but well worth playing.
I might go 9-1 or 10-0 v. Sahalee. I played at Aldarra with Sean a couple weeks ago, and we agreed that Chambers Bay was a slight tick better. For me, CB pushes the envelope more than ALD, and the environment there is just surreal. For those fortunate enough to play some of the greats in the US top 25, the same surreal special nature is found at all of them.
As for Sahalee (full disclosure, we played the South and East 9s....they play tournaments on North and South), it was very cool to get to play there and check it out. However, to have huge trees and narrowness as the focus in this day and age is tough when compared to other great courses around the US that have been taking out trees to open playing areas for 10 years now. I thought that Sahalee's green complexes were the most underrated feature, as most were solid and subtle. Despite this fact, if you compared the 54 green complexes at CB, ALD, and Sahalee, only 3 or 4 of Sahalee's would crack the top 36. When one of the best features at Sahalee is consistently beaten out by the other two layouts, it isn't hard to see which is #3 in the area. No disrespect to Sahalee, which maintains its importance as the region's top tournament venue, but it's "perception-prime" has likely passed with all the younger bucks in the Pac NW.
Aldarra is a course I would love to see on a firm day. Our two rounds were on humid soft days, which created an entirely different challenge, like hitting it further than 235 off the tee. I very much enjoyed the course though, especially #2, 4, 8-10, and 16. The most challenging aspect is the approach shots, as each green is very undulating and surrounded by trouble (with a few exceptions). The course can lull a skilled driver to sleep off the tee, but you need some strong coffee to hit some greens!