Without Anton Ego, how would I choose a restaurant in Paris?
Of course, a critique is only as valid as the person doing the evaluation - but I've come to believe organizations like the various panels are good for golf.
Otherwise, the hoi polloi and Budweiser punters would rate golf courses based on green speed and whether the beer wench is good looking.
Wine critics, who actually know what they are doing, help lead philistines and idiots past their unsophisticated palates - opening the door to appreciation of the finer vintages.
In other words, until you've thought deeply about the subject, an exercise in landscape architecture will have greater initial appeal than a rough hewn strategic gem - because you must look past the surface to appreciate the synthesis of strategic elements as a riddle to solve or untangle.
I used to quietly sneer at our "History Criticism Majors" in film school - under the theory "Those who cannot do, criticize." But while we were still trying to figure out contrast ratios, film stocks and depth of field calcs, the Confederacy of Dunces were busy studying thematic elements and narrative structure.
Even today, a sharp critic is probably a more unbiased evaluator of film than me, because while I notice lighting mismatches and slick camera and focus pulls, they are paying attention to the story itself.
I get too hung up on the technical aspects because that is what I do, while Her Redness (multi-award winning Director/Editor) is focused on the finished product - without wondering why the back window was not jelled or the motivation for that shrieking hair light on the blonde protagonist.
The same might be said for golf architecture critics. I'm sort of a hybrid, having heavily consulted on a few projects - but I believe the opinions of most well trained and well versed, experienced panelists are every bit as valid as a working architect.
Not to say they have technical knowledge on how to line a bunker or contour a putting surface to avoid mowers scalping the rolls and folds, but looking at ONLY the finished product from the standpoint of contemplating the synthesis of all elements (without knowing the trade-offs that were necessary) is the entire point of assembling a number of evaluations, since no one person can be the arbiter of bad vs. good vs. great.