Tom -
The *way* you see is a lot different than mine, and the *reason* you (look and) see is even more different.
I can't think of a single course I've ever played where my lasting/dominant impression *wasn't* about the course more than the individual holes.
Yes, those 1 or 2 (or 4 or 6) wonderful golf holes do stand out, both in the playing of them and later, upon reflection. But I can't go back to a given course and cherry-pick those few outstanding holes, i.e. I'm not in a position to play golf that way, e.g. starting at the 2nd and skipping to the 14th, and then finishing off with the 8th.
My *experience* of the game of golf, at any given course, is the common one:
I drive through a certain kind of countryside and park in the lot and wander to the clubhouse - visual images and sense-reactions impressing themselves upon me the whole way.
I carry my bag and step up to the first tee, and I hit my first shot and then walk and play those 18 golf holes just as the architect intended.
In that context, *everything* matters, and everything factors (either consciously or not) into my lasting/dominant impression:
does the course look and feel like the same as the countryside I've just driven through, or instead is it clearly (or even crudely) manufactured;
is the walk pleasant and flowing, or am I constantly being twisted around like a city-slicker lost in the woods;
hole after hole, does the architect tend to consistently (and even cynically) pander to the rabbit in me, instead of challenging himself and the average golfer to do better;
is the putting generally as fun/interesting as the driving and the approach shots (or are any of those elements good at all/better than the other);
do I feel at peace and engaged and focused, or instead is it as if I'm in the 2nd act of a tedious theatre piece where all I can think of is how much my a-- hurts from sitting so long
You get the idea.
I can take photos of the 2 or 3 great holes on a course and bore my friends with them; or I can come here and blather on about the 8th at Crystal Downs and bore you and others with it. But besides that, what good do those golf holes do me if I can only play them *as part of* an 18 hole course that I otherwise found, say, visually unappealing and monotonous?
In short: the appreciating of a few outstanding golf holes serves, for me, an "objective" and "social" function, i.e. it is mainly fodder for discussion with others; the appreciating of the golf course as a whole, on the other hand, serves a "subjective" function, i.e. it is my own personal experience and enjoyment.
I would not be a sane person, I don't think, if I put satisfying the superficial wants of others ahead of being present to/honouring my own inner experience.
But that's because I'm just a golfer, and not a golf writer or rater or architect.
As a golf course architect, I don't think that subjective-objective 'division' applies for you in the same way, nor do you have the luxury to simply *experience* a golf course; you are almost always also *learning* and often *teaching* as well.
Indeed, your task, it seems to me, is to turn the subjective *into* the objective, so that others later can enjoy what you first appreciated.
Peter