Any chance you could break down why OHCC is 6 and Glens Falls is an 8?
Better property: Glens Falls
More interesting routing: Glens Falls
Better greens contours: Glens Falls
The last one is the biggest difference to me. Oak Hill's greens [East course] have all been flattened for tournament speeds; some of the corner hole locations have been lost; and in truth they didn't look like they were ever a great set of greens. The West course greens are certainly more interesting than the East, but not as good as Glens Falls or Monroe.
I can't comment on Glens Falls since I have not played it, but I have always felt the greens at Oak Hill's West Course are better than those at Monroe. For starters, the West has 17 of 18 greens that are original, while Monroe only has 15 (1, 11, and 12 are re-done, and the last one is bad as any of the Fazio schlock across the way at Oak Hill East). The one non-original green at Oak Hill West, #9, is actually a personal favorite of mine, and it yields a ton of variety day-to-day on the second shot. Players are wise to check the hole location when on the 7th green, because being on the opposite side of the fairway from the pin will mean the golfer will struggle to make a 4. The green, combined with the hole's dramatic terrain, makes it one of the most interesting and most difficult 360-yard par fours I've seen.
Don't get me wrong Monroe has several great green complexes. I'm a big fan of the greens at 4, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, and especially 18 over there, but these greens are still not as original and consistently exacting as my favorite greens on the West Course, 3, 4, and 6:
The pushed up, wild green on OHW's 3rd takes an ordinary mid-length par four and turns it into one of the toughest in the area. It doesn't matter where you put the pin here--any hole location is likely to be slippery and highly inaccessible with even a short iron. Oak Hill's 3rd is a great example of a hole where the green is a timeless defense against technology, because even a 60-yard wedge will have players puckering up a bit. I'd submit that, the Monroe tiger tees excluded, 3 at Oak Hill West manages to be tougher and more interesting than any long par four at Monroe despite having only one bunker.
The 4th is, by a pretty wide margin, my favorite short par three I have played. Why? Because the green site is so large and has so many sections, the golfer could face one of several types of shots on any given day. The hole is probably three-quarters of a shot tougher with the pin cut in the back left than it is cut down in the gully in the middle of the green. And with no pin sheets on the West Course, the golfer will not know until he walks onto the tee whether he is a facing a serious birdie opportunity or a grind-it-out par. I much prefer this to the 8th at Monroe, which, despite a more interesting setting, is not as compelling to play on a regular basis.
Finally, the 6th. The only par five over 500 yards on the West Course sorely misses its lost fairway bunkering, but it makes up for with a green site that was built to last. Most players cannot reach this par five in two, but two good shots will leave you with a wedge shot well inside 100 yards. Easy, right? Try hitting a half wedge off a tight lie to a green site that feels like it sits directly above you. Got that down? Now make sure you keep it on the right level, no small feat since the green features a wicked horseshoe-shaped tier that sends approach shots bouncing all sorts of directions. Although the push-up green at Monroe's 9th is highly unusual and a lot of fun, it is still softer than the 6th on the West.
In the past, I've also done a comparison of the green sites at the well-regarded 14th at Monroe compared with the lesser known (but more dynamic) 11th at OHW. I can't find it in the search engine (although I did find a ton of stuff on Monroe I've written in the past), but bonus points to anybody who can.
Oak Hill West is by no means without flaws. The course misses its original fairway bunkering. There are still tree issues on holes like 3, 12, 16, and 17. Backboards behind greens like 7 and 15, which could be mowed as fairway to create all sorts of fun approach options, remain as thick rough. But, aside from a little repetition between greens like 5, 7, 16, and 18, the West Course knocks the ball out of the park in terms of the greens. I also prefer its routing to that at Monroe, and I think the terrain is just a bit stronger at OHW as well. A pure restoration of the West would likely make it a contender for one of the best parkland courses in the Northeast.
At the end of the day, you can't wrong playing either course passing through the area. But, mainly because of the greens, terrain, and routing, West is best in my book.
My newest, completely official rankings of the Ross courses in Rochester:
1. Oak Hill West
2. Monroe
3. CC of Rochester
4. Oak Hill East
5. Irondequoit
6. Brook Lea