Ogilvy: "The quality of the courses is so much more important than the powers-that-be seem to think."

To accompany Golf World's PGA Tour course ranking project, contributor Geoff Ogilvy penned a column sharing his thoughts on the ranking, players as architecture critics and the important role good design plays in shaping our perception of tournament golf.

Not too much of the survey came as a surprise to me. It's not that I necessarily know what is great and what is not, but I know which courses the players talk about the most. For example, no one gets to the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and says, "what a joke Riviera was last week." Everyone loves it.

But the week after other events you hear plenty of, "What a joke that course is. I'm never going back."

The quality of the courses is so much more important than the powers-that-be seem to think. If we took every tour event to a truly great course, the play would be more attractive to watch and the product would be better. And, in time, golf would be a bigger sport than it is now. If you're talking branding or product or entertainment value, the golf course is so underestimated.