"...Brauer and people like him..."
Kelly,
For the most part, I am just like you, so what the heck are ya talkin about?
I DO understand the impact of rankings. For example, the first Giant's Ridge finished in the top 10 of the GD rankings, and if not for that, they probably wouldn't have been able to change travel habits of golfers to a new area of Minnesota. The second course wouldn't have gotten built, and I wouldn't have designed it. Nor, would I have designed Fortune Bay nearby, nor would the Quarry have gotten tte pre-opening pubs that it has (BTW, it also made the Celebrated Living List, for whatever thats worth)
I also use any publicity I can get as a part of my personal sales pitch.
I just visited the JFK museum in Dallas for the first time, and it made me recall the hub-bub about whether the NFL should have played after the assassination or not. That type of event puts these ratings into a bigger perspective, albeit, using a Texas size stretch for comparison.
So, when I say they aren't important, I'm talking in that sense, and in the sense that in every endeavor, someone somehow becomes an authority to conduct that endeavor. In football, its the NFL, in golf ratings, it has become various magazines that seek to undertake the endeavor, simply because people are interested in it.
We can question the rules of the NFL when our team doesn't win, or the rules of the ratings game when our coures don't win. But, there have to be some rules. Not only, as some have pointed out, can no rating be totally objective, and fair, no rating system can be.
Besides that, no team wins the Super Bowl every year, and no architect wins every rating contest. Luckily, there are plenty to go around, so that each of us can get that thrill once in a while. Of course, if you won every year, it wouldn't be such a thrill anyway.
If I may be so bold, I think I have a pretty healthy attitude about it.
I submit many of my courses, when I think they are worthy. (Funny story - I didn't initally submit the Legacy last year, and it ended up finishing 10th in GD, showing just exactly what I know about the ratings process, and some would add, golf architecture itself
) I have had a few make the GD list, and think I know when my course is worthy of ranking.
Then, like Ben Franklin, I expect the worst, so that any win is a joy. However, there is a LOT of good architecture out there, so I usually don't expect the numbers to fall my way, but I admit that I have allowed myself to get dissapointed a few times.
I just don't allow myself to go negative on the system itself, like you, nor do I allow myself to go ballistic in public, like Geoff did!
(Again, I admit I may, I say may, have done it privately once or twice!
) You do great work. I suggest you keep on keepin on.