gookin:
Not to bust your justifiable pride but my point on Fox Chapel is meant to illustrate a few things ...
1). Too many raters / reviewers sometimes follow the crowd and hang too much hype on certain courses. In this particular case you see a fellow Raynor course like Shoreacres touted among the top 50 courses in the USA, and, in my opinion, that is a major league stretch when you see a course like Fox Chapel that is clearly beyond it but receives little notice outside of a few people (his royal highness, among others) who have actually played it and follow its progression. Heck, I played the course some time ago and thought it was quite good then.
2). How Digest dropped Fox Chapel to 20th on its last poll is mystifying because of all the upgrades you articulated. I'm not suggesting the course would crack the top ten in the Keystone State that easily because the competition is quite good but when I see the plain as jane layouts at Saucon Valley grabbing a number of positions I just have to wonder what people are looking at and clearly they are missing something IMHO. Ditto the continued appeal of Laurel Valley.
3). Sometimes a mega course (e.g. Oakmont) can suck the air out of a given area because so little is focused on the other courses in the area. Too many times those "in the know' simply chase the "star" course to the detriment of others in that area. This happens to a lesser extent with the superb array of courses in Pennsy but I also see it in my "neck of the woods" in Jersey because so few people see beyond the likes of Pine Valley, Plainfield and Baltusrol.
letsgoState:
I don't live in Western Pennsy but my best college chum hailed from the immediate area (Mon City) and I had the opportunity to play and tour just about all of the acclaimed courses in the area.
Sad to say but too many times western Pennsy is simply thought of as the location of Oakmont. I personally believe Oakmont to be among the five best courses I have ever played and it clearly deserves its high position IMHO. Unfortunately, people "in the know" need to use a good bit more shoe leather and see what else exists in the area. Fox Chapel would be a fine place to start.