Just to kick off a little discussion on the particulars of the Greywalls review...
I'm curious, Brad, if you were able to play the back nine when you came last year? (I remember the weather was pretty terrible and you weren't able to be on the property for long).
Holes 12-15 in particular are about as solid a golf experience as you can get, and many of the architects and raters who've already come through and given glowing reviews have mentioned 13 as one of the best par 5's they've ever seen. I know Mike considers it one of his finest.
As far as 18 goes, that one is sort of the "homecoming" of the course: after experiencing a blend of drama, variety, and DeVries/McKenzie-style classical golf (the first time I saw 12 and 14 I felt like I was at Augusta), you finally reach a point where it's all downhill through a tumbling mogul valley of a fairway and into a broad plain to the final green, where you can finally exhale. Another option on 18 that we'll make good use of is turning it into a demanding long par four in tournament golf. The green itself has more going on than appeared last fall when it was still growing in, and any other ground features would have appeared completely artificial.
That's the essence of Mike's design out there - a minimalist treatment of a dramatic front nine and then his signature style on the back nine more in keeping with a place like Kingsley.
The only other rating issue I don't quite understand is the "interest of greens and the surrounding contours." That one's really baffling as I've been out there hundreds of times and every time I go I see something new about a number of greens. The green on #1 is set on a balance beam with closely mown fairway falling away at all sides. Number 2 by contrast is set into a hill falling away to the right into the trees, with an approach that if taken directly toward the green must carry a rocky gorge; the other option being far out to the left of the green and falling with the slope down onto the two-tiers - the higher you throw it, the further it rolls down, thus allowing you to choose your tier via a corresponding angle of the slope on the left.
Holes 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, and 18 also call for a variety of ground-style approaches to get close to many pins, each with a different set of surrounding slopes and contours. Number 9's skyline rock-bowl green caps one of the best holes I've ever seen. And the greens are what people really notice when they first see the place. There isn't one that feels like a repeat, yet they all bear that DeVries creativity and call for a similarly creative response. Much like Kingsley (but not quite as extreme), the correct line on a putt may be up to 90 degrees to the right or left, play off another slope or two, and eventually make its way back to the hole. I'll be going out there some afternoons with just a putter in my hand.
Otherwise I thought you really captured it well, particularly with the skillful language you employed to catch the dramatic feel of the place. We'd love to have you back once it's matured some more.