Wayne -
I fly from San Francisco to London Heathrow to Inverness twice a year, so I know (all too well!) how long it takes to get there.
I think Sand Hills may be benefiting from the buzz it generated as a new (and new type of) course. Royal Dornoch got a lot of buzz for a decade or more after is was "re-discovered" by H.W. Wind, but now it has receded into the background a bit as it does not host any major golf events and a number of newer (and flashier) courses have been built in GB&I.
It will be interesting to see how well Sand Hills holds up in the rankings over the next 10-20 years. As more courses get built in the sandbelt region (Dismal River, Ballyneal, the Prairie Club, etc.), Sand Hills will inevitably lose some of its uniqueness and it may recede into the background of raters minds just a bit.
All the above being said, it was very nice to see Brora, even more remote than Royal Dornoch, creep into the Top 100.
DT