It reminds me that some want an excellent *golfing* experience while many others want a pleasant experience that *happens to be* on a golf course -- and that experience includes being made to feel welcomed and valued and well taken care of from start to finish, and leaving with a sense that you were respected and received value for your money. Who really ever wants to go to a place that in every way possible sends you signals that you're not their kind of people and you don't know the code/rules/game? Walk into any high-end bar or cafe in any recently gentrified neighbourhood in America, and you will see all kinds of people there -- everyone, that is, except for the very people who *grew up* in that neighbourhood.
Excellent points and all spot-on, IMO! To many in the retail golfing public, Golf Advisor's rankings carry more weight in determining courses they wish to play or spend vacation time/money on than Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, etc. because the reviews are largely posted by average Joe's, not the perceived gentrified raters in the aforementioned publications (note: this is no slight to any of you who are raters whatsoever).
I know GCA's have little control and say over this, as round rates are set by the owner/operator of the development, but it makes me wonder who all of these new elite courses that cost upwards of $200.00 a round catering too - the 1%'ers? If that's the case, you will eventually reach a point of diminishing returns, as capacity at some point will outstrip demand. I have to believe we are at or near that threshold. If I were a developer planning a new public course or resort, I would target the segment of the golfing public that can afford a $75.00 - $100.00 round of golf, as there are a lot more of those people out there than there are golfers who have no problem forking over $250.00 to $300.00 for 18 holes and a cart. The Golf Advisor Top 50 list epitomizes this philosophy, which I think is good for the long-term health of the sport.
It is going to be interesting to see how trends play out the next several years and if the more accessible mid to upper-tier courses on the Golf Advisor Top 50 or 100 list starts chipping away at rounds played at the GD Top 100 Public Courses and if that eventually leads to pricing pressure and reduced or special rates at say a Streamsong, Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits, Pinehurst, etc.