Steve,
Are you saying that the omission of one course makes 90% of the bracket a farce? That's what I'm reading.
Yes, the omission of an easily arguable top 5 course, and one that might well topple any one of those ahead of it and certainly all behind it does (by statistical logic and definition) render the majority of the balance a farce (WebsterS: "ludicrously improbable situation").
I'll go one more controversial step further and wager that a very large part of this contest will be determined by the following factors:
1) The relative attractiveness of the course's cart girls.
2) The proximity and frequency of alcoholic beverages available.
3) The net win/loss on-course gambling ratio for participating, non-GCA voters.
4) Social networking skill of each venue's Marketing Director's team
5) Relative GD specific ad spending budget of many of the named venues.
Any takers???
All of the above sound like solid reasons to further promote the contest as a constructive valuation for public access golf, eh?