Brett:
There's no big world map on the wall at my office, nor at home. Only in my head. I've always understood that I only have limited control over where opportunities may arise, but the best way to generate work is to go spend time where you'd like to be.
And I don't know if there are any questions that didn't get asked. I will only take responsibility for my answers!
Adam:
How the heck did you stumble on that Little Diamond thing? Interesting marketing plan.
As for the rest of your post, I'm not quite sure how to answer. I have read all the posts and responded to most, and I really didn't think anyone "dissed" me at all. A couple of posters HAVE disrespected Mike Hurdzan, and Rees Jones, and David Kidd, by implying that if I had done those particular courses they would have been far better. I wouldn't [and didn't] say the same, just that I wish I'd got the chance to see how my routing would have turned out instead.
I've gotten a couple of notes from other architects, which basically said, "Yeah, we all go through the same thing," and I know that's the truth. Two or three years ago there was a post here by some young architect on a great project he never got to build -- this thread just reinforces that it happens all the time, to all of us. It's agonizing, and it makes it tough to run a business ... but those are just a couple more obstacles you have to overcome if you want to succeed as a golf course architect.
As I said earlier, I can't complain too much, because at least I got to build on a few of the great sites I've seen. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be for someone to never get that chance.