Hi Rich,
Evaluating golf courses is one of my favorite topics here on GCA. Here are a number of my thoughts:
1. Tom Doak's Confidential Guide series of books are the best reference source for how to evaluate courses.
2. Tom rates courses on a 0-10 rating scale. A rating of 5 is a recommended course; therefore Tom has established a scale with six levels of recommended courses, and courses rated 8 or higher are among the top 1% of all courses.Whatever scale you use, it should have four to six grades of great to separate the very best. Sean A uses a scale not unlike the Michelin restaurant scale, which awards up to three stars along with the coveted honorable mention rating. Or just use a simple four or five star system, but if you do, a one star course is a course of considerable merit.
Like Tom and Sean, I strongly recommend a single rating which encompasses your overall opinion. Don't get too mechanical.
3. It's important to be a tough grader so that you can separate the best from the merely fantastic.
4. Rich, your list of criteria is comprehensive. I have distilled my general evaluation down to two factors — how fun are the shots and how interesting is the walk.
Each shot requires the player to assess the upcoming stroke, select a club and the type of shot to be attempted, and then execute the shot and observe the results. At great courses this act of imagining and executing shots is deeply satisfying.
Other than that, I like to watch birds and trees and whatever inbetween the shots. Watching your playing partners hit shots is worthwhile as well.
If I had to add one criterion to your list, it would be a sense of rhythm to the holes. The game has a rhythm to it and on good courses there are grand crescendos in the experience. Sometimes the climax is near the end; on Pacific Dunes in Bandon it takes place on the 13th green, after the player had work his way north through holes 10-13 into the summer wind, before turning around and heading home downwind.
5. My methodology is different from Sean A and Matt Schoolfield in important ways. I will use all available information to make an accurate call. Compared to Sean A and Matt Schoolfield, I believe there is a right answer for a course rating, and that the range of ratings for a given course should be pretty tight. Really good courses yield fun and exciting shots; their greatness is usually evident.
I draw on other people's opinions to refine my own assessment. I look for valuable information wherever I can find it. It can be counterproductive to use another opinion as an anchor rating, but I stand by it. It's not uncommon to be underwhelmed by a great course the first time around. Maybe Tom rated the course an 8 or 9, or Golf or Golfweek's composite rankings put a course in the top 50, and I just don't get it. In that case, I'll conclude that maybe I've got it wrong. So I'll think about it some more, and if I'm lucky I'll get a second chance to play it.
I was fortunate enough to play Crystal Downs about four times in about 2006 - 2010. I thought it probably should be rated a 7 the first time around, and by the fourth time I felt like I was walking on hallowed ground.
If an expert rates a course a 7, it would be quite daring to rate it lower than 6 or higher than 8. Be prepared to back it up with a good argument. Make a great argument or two and you'll be respected forever here.
6. Finally, know your biases and preferences. Thanks for letting me share.