Tim,
Actually you do a terrific job of proving my point as well. Your form of regional rating, as you described (and confirmed by the geographic limitations of the UK & Ireland and it's predetermined guidances) proves only that you can compare and contrast within much smaller sets, leaving zero room for real assessment of how a links course ranks next to say...a parkland or inland course on the continent. For example, how could you create any world list (and Tom is referring to the GM Top 100) that could fairly place a Morfontaine vs. say, a Castle Stuart or a Royal Dornoch? Regional and sub-regional rankings are, in effect, quite easy and the notional idea of comparing a seaside Cape Wickham to a landlocked Kingston Heath is borderline absurd, unless, and only unless, you are breaking out your publication only by geographical parameters.
Tom,
As a former founder and early proponent of the GM Panel, you full well know that it is a difficult and consuming task to try to place a hundred plus potentially worthy courses along a scale that's then designed to statistically measure and weigh among another 99 other sets of eyes, minds, and behavioral biases. When done well by experienced (having seen larger #'s of work) folks, the freedom of subjective opinions tends to vastly outshine the handicap of imposed guidances, categorical or geographical. You've as much said so multiple times over your history of participation. Surely, such a system will produce anomalous outliers from time-to-time, but again, that's the beauty of subject freedom over the handcuffs of predetermined and prescribed guidances.
Personally, I have real trouble believing your missive: "wondering (sic) if Streamsong Blue and Red pulled each other down...." Behavioral babble aside, I so strongly doubt any panelists (at least all those I know and have talked with) "decided in advance that they wanted to rate one of the two in the Top 100...." I don't believe I've ever even remotely sensed such a predisposition from anyone engaged in the art of ranking. Perhaps both may well blow away some others on the list, but that seems to be a function of time and exposure....an equation that remains neither static nor guaranteed.
I agree the mental game of sub-ranking the course among other works by the same architect does come into play, but only amongst the most facile of minds. A good eye and critical mind rarely ignores the unique and ever-present variables (land, economics. weather, restrictions, prime intention of use, etc..) that influence a design.
Getting back to the "Big Three," it'll be difficult given the large width of the explicit geographical spectrum separating these exciting new courses to see them in near time and I imagine anyone lucky enough to play all three won't be able to resist the sub-cranial dilemma of looking at them through the prism of a related trio. It's neither wrong, nor right, but the experienced panelist will immediately begin the exercise of comparing and contrasting to other, similarly-sited venues. I know that's the mental lens myself and others used recently at Cliffs. Funny thing is no one among 14 raters for various publications vocalized comparisons to Highland Links, Banff or Jasper, but instead thought about the likes of Pebble, Pac Dunes, Alisa, etc...much better comparative sets IMO. I suspect all these folks would do the same with Tara Iti or Cape Wickham.
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