I often equate golf architecture criticism to wine appreciation--both require individuals to develop their own way to sort preferences, which can be easily influenced by outside opinion and easily short-circuited by labels and brands. (NB: I personally don't have the innate palate or desire to learn what makes a $500 bottle.) Tests to become a sommelier are notoriously hard, so being able to discern what's "good" just through experience (taste, smell, etc.) is difficult. But any yahoo can plunk down a high-limit credit card and buy a bottle of Stags Leap or Silver Oak, decant, swirl, and impress their friends without knowing a thing.
So, too with golf courses. The prestige of hosting a US Open or a PGA Tour event provides bragging rights for courses and players of those courses. Golf Digest rankings give people a list to check off. "XYZ Golf Club has a $100 K initiation fee--it must be good!" None of these things tell me anything about the architecture as I will experience it while playing, but they allow for the appearance of refined taste when talking with buddies at "the club".
I've always thought this site and this discussion group as a resource to learn a common vocabulary and place discuss something deeply personal--taste in golf courses. That said, there is an underlying shared value system that comes from the early days of this site. It is built around strategic interest, walkability, fun--things we read and write about here. This shared ethos allows for fun discussion ("which Redan is better--CC of C or Yeaman's?") due to what we believe to be subtleties of good taste. It also has enabled me to make up my own mind when playing a new course that I know nothing about--the equivalent of finding the $10 bottle that tastes like $100. There's an evangelism that comes with this, and what evangelism is complete without heathens?
So, public opinion matters, but not to me and people I respect. There's always a market for luxury goods of poor quality but revered brand (try blind tasting vodka some time--COME AT ME!); spend your money how you like, but it seems a bit superficial, no? I strive to understand not only what I like, but why I like it. This allows me to enjoy high quality products that deliver value without brand recognition. How lovely to have a place to share those finds...