Jim Franklin,
A
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isn't linear.
I think the issue you raise has to do with "Branding"
I also think that JES II's points are valid.
I think of the fellows walking through someones house and seeing a painting, one says, "look at that piece of sh**", the other one says, "that's a _____ and it's worth 4.7 million.
Then the first guy says, "wow, that really is a great painting"
Some people don't know and/or appreciate art and some people don't know and/or appreciate good golf course architecture.
It seems that if something is unique, creates interest and challenge, and is fun to deal with, that it must be bad architecture today.
I hear more and more golfers context the quality of golf course architecture in one word, "difficulty".
"Difficulty" seems to have overpowered almost every other aspect of golf course architecture by the general golfing population.