Sheehy
There is no question I refer Alwoodley to WHO primarily because of space (as you suggest) but also because its a more peaceful experience. On the flip side though, the open views at WHO are lovely and pretty much how I imagine heathland should be. There are also more visually cool features at WHO whereas Alwoodley is pretty standardized with its bunkering. Don't get me wrong, its attractive bunkering, but bunkering all the same. I think Alwoodley may just pip WHO in quality, but I think they are in the same class and could understand the argument either way. Yet, WHO is always ranked top 100 and Alwoodley is the poor step child. I think Sunny Old pips either one, but with more plays I could see myself either putting Sunny Old well in front or Alwoodley pipping it. Bottom line, I would need to play both courses more times to have a clear understanding of the comparison. In a way Sunny Old and Alwoodley compare quite well with neither course having a lot of outstanding holes; instead relying on the total design to get the job done.
Mark
Notts for me is a clear step in quality below Alwoodley. I can't quite figure out what my reticence about Notts is and it really bugs that I can't! The only thing I ever come up with is the greens aren't particularly special. But normally this doesn't bother me much especially as Notts clearly has a better variety of terrain and holes than Alwoodley or WHO. I guess the only solution is to play Notts more
Ganton, Swinley, Georges Hill, Sunny New and Woking I would place on the low end of the same class as Alwoodley (with Alwoodley on the top end of the class). I consider all these great courses.
Ciao