I know this is going to seem heretical to many of my friends over in Springfield (and likely spur some more hating), but I simply don't understand what exactly is so special about Baltusrol that it deserves NHL status....and thus the benefits that inure from such a designation??
It lacks the uniqueness, charm, and history of Merion, the regional importance and penal design of Oakmont, and the relevance of Pinehurst or Augusta. I'd argue that Chicago Golf Club or Somerset Hills deserve more protection for their property than Baltusrol. As a "prized design of Tillinghast," it pales beside the likes of Quaker Ridge, Bethpage Black and SFGC. So much so especially post restorative efforts of the Jones family.
Perhaps it's clubhouse and grounds have rightly earned it's NJ Register of Historic Places designation and I'd even concede the building deserves it's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but the course and club in it's totality hardly belongs in the company of iconic sites like The White House, Flatiron Building and Fenway Park. After all, if they could delist Soldier Field for it's modern alterations, what does it say that they might preserve what has clearly shifted so much over the years?