If you want to know why this type of discussion is
inevitable, and happens to all internet forums eventually,
read this:
"A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy"
http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
JohnK, thanks for the great link. (I'm really, really tempted to start a new thread called, "Please read this if you care for the future of GolfClubAtlas!" and simply post that URL.) But I disagree with your conclusion - that article says that all groups inevitably attack themselves, but it does strongly suggest that it should be possible to design your discussion forum in such a way to render such attacks relatively harmless.
Without moderation, GCA will eventually die a death - of that I'm certain. The reasons it has done so well so far are, to my mind, the following:
1) It's a niche subject. People aren't going to wander into this forum unless they're attracted to golf course architecture in some form in the first place.
2) The average poster is both intelligent and cares for the forum. That means a lot - GCA.com won't implode through maliciousness or stupidity (I don't think).
And that's about it. Those are two very strong pillars, but they number only two. Fact is, this website has no proper defenses (e.g. moderation) against "attack"; it has an ever-increasing tendency to stray off-message; and it has a libertarian streak which may ultimately prove fatal. For this last point, I'd cite the following quote from that article: you need to accept that "The core group has rights that trump individual rights in some situations." And for the point about straying from message, I'd quote this:
"The user of social software is the group, not the individual. I think we've all been to meetings where everyone had a really good time, we're all talking to one another and telling jokes and laughing, and it was a great meeting, except we got nothing done. Everyone was amusing themselves so much that the group's goal was defeated by the individual interventions."
Seriously...go out and read that article. It'll take you some time, and the middle section isn't entirely relevant to us, but it'll be worth it. And if enough of you haven't read it and reported back in a day or two, I might have to start that new thread after all...
Cheers,
Darren