Don,
The only reason I brought up Wolf Point (WP) in this thread is that as I started reading it, WP popped into my mind. Essentially, it seems clear to some of us that gca.com has become a bit like the Academy, a closed loop of like-minded folks with rather narrow perspectives and a strong resistance to non-conforming views. I was suggesting that since the mindset that put WP as GOLF's top course in TX is also dominant on this site, that a course cut from a similar cloth, i.e. Memorial Park, has a great chance of winning the honor ("sleeper of the year").
I do agree that my comments vis-a-vis WP, specially my response to Nuzzo!, would have been better made on the GOLF thread. I do trust that those who choose to consider my comments are also familiar with that discussion and are able to put them in context.
Re: my evaluation of WP, your memory of what I conveyed to you is at odds with mine. First of all, it was Nuzzo! who asked me for my opinion at a time that the three of us were pretty good friends. Using Golfweek's criteria, I attempted to adapt the evaluation to a course which has the limitations that you note are obvious and provided a grade for each of the categories. Though Golfweek raters arrived at a rating without tying these together, I did so for Mike and suggested to him that it would place the course in the top 20 in Texas. BTW, I might have the pertinent correspondence in an old computer that won't boot up presently. If I can get it to work and I can find the file, I'd be willing to post it here with your and Mike's permission.
Mike on a number of occasions has opined that WP is the best course in Texas. Me, back in 2008, I thought that being in the top 20 was a very good thing- I know any number of courses in the state that would have been tickled pink. Apparently, not you guys.
For the record, I think very highly of the work you and Mike did at WP. I tried on at least three occasions to visit WP in subsequent years when I was in the Houston area but was not granted the opportunity (and mind you that Al told me when he was leaving for lunch to "come back" any time, something that impressed Dale enough to tell me that the gesture was highly unusual).
I am also surprised of your recollections of my comments about #6. "Unfair" is not a term I use. I do believe that green contours should not be random, but tied in so as to allow a great shot to have a chance to end in a place where there is a good probability of holing the next. I only played that hole three times, but I remember thinking that there was so much going on from the safe side- the alternative was a ditch with chest high vegetation on the left- that not even Tommy with total sensory deprivation could get it up and down.
Re: that I thought the course was too wide, the greens too firm, that I suggested you should punch them, that I dismissed your explanation, Don, that is just not me or my style. It is common knowledge that new greens, especially bermuda, will be very firm when they're new. And if there is something I appreciate better than most people is experience and knowledge, something that you have in spades. I would never dismiss your opinions on anything dealing with the maintenance and setup of a golf course.
I may have said something regarding the speed of the greens from purely a personal preference, but I knew who buttered your bread and since you only had the one client to satisfy, whatever he wanted was the right thing to do. I was just tickled to have the opportunity to play the course and be around you guys. That Mike took my honest evaluation poorly and that you apparently did as well, that is disappointing.