Again this is a very good course. Bill I would have your friend go there in a heartbeat. I would join him if I was in Houston this week.
Yes, but would you drive 3-4 hours just to play it? (or whatever the Doak test is.)
As others have noted, Austin GC and the subject are very different courses. The former is much more of a club course, with a neat routing, and interesting but manageable green complexes. The latter is more masculine, designed around drainage areas with a modern routing, and more taxing on and around the greens (specially when they're firm and fast). I suspect that WP is a course held in higher esteem by those who place considerable value on resistance to scoring, while AGC would be favored by golfers prefering more of a "walk in the park".