Mention an architect, and I recall horrible greens complexes by all of them.
Of course, it comes down to a matter of preference. I always have felt that the best greens are the ones that: (1) will accept a well-struck approach of the distance the hole requires: (2) are guarded by hazards, including chipping areas, that require a deft touch but still are fair, and (3) make smooth transitions and provide for the several fair hole locations.
I don't hold severely undulating greens against the old architects because player were putting basically with chipping irons to help get the ball off the ground quickly so it wouldn't have to roll all the way across slow grass. (Therefore, I won't rail against Ross's greens at Sara Bay in Sarasota, for example.)
I also can't hold against architects the tyranny of daily hole rotations.
I assume an architect had at least a few hole locations in mind when he (or she) designed a green, but too many courses are trying to spread wear by trying to use way too much of too many greens. I would guess most architects would be angry to see how their greens complexes are abused.
For example, I played the Tom Fazio's Pine Barrens course at World Woods once with my son, who is an excellent player. It was pin-setting position #1--which set every cup on the very edges of the greens. He 3-putted 13 times.
I complained that the greens were not designed for six or seven pin settings and that what would have otherwise been a great golf experience had been ruined. One would have thought I was insane.
I can't indict all of an architect's work by citing a few examples, but still:
It was suggested by one of Oak Tree's most successful pros--Doug Tewell--that everyone would be better off if they just blew up all 54 greens on that Pete Dye complex.
I played the Panks/Graham Talon course at Greyhawk in Scottsdale. Many of the greens were sharply plateaued at the back, and, of course, the day I played it all of those plataus had cups set at the top of them. You couldn't roll the shot up the banks, and you couldn't stop an approach on the plateaus.
It is possible to play every hole on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and never have a fairly-level, middle pin setting. Too many of those greens are tiered and/or crowned and fall off to the sides. Pin settings usually are to the corners. These courses are tough enough without impossible putting.
I almost always dislike the greens by Lloyd Clifton (and Ezell) because they often make sharp, tiered transitions from section to section. The new Palm course at the otherwise-excellent Grey Oaks in Naples, Florida has greens that illustrate that point.
I played a new course named Old Silo outside Lexington, Ky. last fall.
It featured Graham Marsh's name, but I suspect the design was done by Mark Amundson. The routing was fine and the bunkering was sensational, but the greens frequently were repetitive--too much the same and too much layering.
Both Arthur Hills and P.B. Dye are prone to overcook their greens complexes. Hills' Persimmon Ridge outside Louisville is a testing-enough course as it is, but the greens are much too small for their severe undulations. There simply aren't enough fair pin settings. P.B.Dye's recent work at Hidden Glen at Bentdale Farms contains a nasty set of greens, the 17th being virtually unputtable.
I hated some of the greens at Tom Doak's Lost Dunes, although overall I liked the course. But the 4th green is beyond the pale, and I have little patience with a green like the 11th where I hit a long iron into a hillside green about 25 feet from the hole, and the putt broke 18 feet.
The same for George Fazio's course at Pinehurst #6, with greens so severe one had to fight for his life to two putt.
The par 5 first hole at The Links at Spanish Bay sets out magnificently straight toward the ocean. A player should be left with a wedge to the green. My shot hit the left middle of the green, bounded straight left and out of play. When I got to the green, I discovered the whole left side of the green is a sinkhole. "What is this all about?" I thought.
I supposed the greens complexes I have liked best recently were at Barona Creek. The first, and only other, Gary Roger Baird course I played was in Fairfield, Cal. some years ago, and the greens were so gigantic, they were totally out of proportion to the rest of the course. Barona Creek is a significant improvement.