Jeff,
You asked, "What exactly is there to 'sanction?'"
As you might be aware of, I am on the Board of the Tillinghast Association, and we have received more than a few letters of inquiry from clubs inquiring about our sanctioning their course as a Tillinghast.
I actually mentioned this in a past topic here on GCA and received a number of comments from members here taking me to task and asking why we don't sanction and others as to why we do. The issue was brought up by a club that was advertising itself as a "Tillinghast Design" even though only 9 of it's 18 holes were.
We took the stand that it is NOT up to us to certify in any way the veracity of a club's claim to whether they consider themselves an original "Tillinghast Design" golf course or not.
We strongly believe that an Association honoring Tilly or any other of the old great dead guys has only of as much credibility and value as an association as they are willing to give back.
Right now there are more than 750 members of the Tillinghast Association. We do not charge dues. We charge a one-time initiation fee of $90 that gives you lifetime membership. In addition you receive copies of the three volumes of Tilly's writings compiled by Rick & Stu Wolffe and Bob Trebus.
We also are making a very concerted effort in setting an example of what associations such as ours should do - educate any and all about the old dead guy we admire.
That is why we turned the Tillinghast Association website into a virtual research center. Much of Tilly's writings are now up as well as photographs, course descriptions, documents, letters, and much, much more.
We want to provide any and all, no matter where they may live, an opportunity to learn about his work, principles and person whether it be for scholarly research or a mere pleasurable read.
We charge nothing for this and, in fact, did the website upgrade through a one-time approach for contributions to the existing membership. The response was overwhelming and the support wonderful.
We also are contacted weekly by clubs seeking information about the work that Tilly did &/or recommended to them, reports he may have written and drawings that he had done, for the hundreds of clubs that he visited during his two-plus year PGA Course Consultation Tour.
We gladly give freely of our time in providing information of this type and performing research for these clubs and encourage others to approach if they have questions as well.
It is most important that research on and information about the work of the "Dead Guys" be gathered now. Most of them did work nearly 100 years ago and more and this information is too quickly being lost to posterity.
Architectural Associations should take the lead in compiling this for themselves, their memberships and all others who would like to learn. They should also make it available to the USGA, PGA of America, World Golf Hall of Fame and other archives so that all who love the game may have access to the records that will enable them to learn.
An earlier thread asked what the ASGCA could do for young architects. Their support of initiatives such as this, the USGA's Museum Committee's new effort to prepare coure evolution histories and others to come, and informing their membership and those interested in being members of them, would be a good start.
What architect alive today wouldn't have loved to spend a year or two or more working with and learning from a Tillinghast, a Flynn, a Ross, Mcdonald, Mckenzie, etc...?
By making this information available, we at the Tillinghast association are trying to do our part to help and we hope that others follow.
Sorry for the length of this fellows, but some of the Old Dead Guys are worth studying and remembering, especially doing it the right way.