Shel:
My sense is that Ran anticipated this in setting up the Discussion Board. Somewhere in the archives of GCA, Ran once wrote that a website seeking "frank commentary on golf course architecture" would by necessity need to include members of quite exclusive clubs, because those clubs are home to some of the most notable examples of oustanding and ground-breaking architecture in the game. Ran could presumably solve most if not all of the access issue by eliminating features on the website that allow discussion board members to IM and email each other (GCA is somewhat unusual for a discussion board in that it provides an easy way for members to exchange messages in this manner). Ran has chosen not to do that, and my hunch all along is that Ran not only wanted frank commentary exchanged by members
with first-hand experience of great golf architecture, but also saw it as an opportunity -- within the long, friendly and civil traditions of the game itself -- to allow such individuals to invite, if they so choose, discussion board members to their home club who might not otherwise have the opportunity to play those courses.
At its best, this happens quite often on the discussion board -- I'm not sure I ever would've had the chance to play Flossmoor (I'd never even heard much about it
) last year with you and others without the involvement -- and generous invitations -- of folks here. Patrick Mucci, Dan Moore, and dozens of others have organized similar GCA outings, and I have yet to hear anyone say those outings are anything but wonderful opportunities to explore, play and discuss golf courses otherwise beyond the reach (access) of many of us. My sense is that Ran thinks this is a good thing -- in some ways, a logical and wonderful extension of the discussion board.
I'm fairly oblivious to the access issue (largely, I think, because I don't have any access to give...), but I'll take you and Terry's word that it's gotten worse. I think your suggestions are wise, as are others on this and other threads decrying the practice of aggressive access-seeking. Yet I can't help but think that Ran's silence on all of this -- now going into its third day, and remaining on the first page of the DBoard -- is somehow telling. Perhaps he's willing to live with the bad (access seeking) in return for having contacts made quite easily on the board, which I'd argue has led to a lot of good.