This "upset" in the short-lived tradition of ranking courses is just another example of the effect of positive change and necessary evolution of all things. Pebble has gotten too expensive and too reliant on tradition and history to earn the top perch.
Simply put, Pebble is nothing short of wonderful and has earned its importance, history, tradition, and reputation. But it is also way too pricey with no real choice of reasonably priced golf, food and lodging. PB's holes are sprinkled with a few mediocre ones and any other public course nearby suffers the same fate.
Bandon/Pac. Dunes has leaped to the top, not 100% on the back of Tom Doak or any other archie. Instead, it is a huge collective victory for Mike Keiser's vision, his partners in construction and operation, David Kidd and Tom Doak. They all should share the credit and bask in the golden glow. I have said to all that know me, a trip to Oregon is a far more attractive proposition than wasting a ton of $$ at Pebble (unless of course access to CPGC can be had!). I wish I could trade the places like a stock arbitrage, I'd have shorted PB/Spy, etc.. and bought BD/PD 1.5 yrs ago and gotten paid bigtime by now. I suspect that trade will continue to work for sometime in the future.
As for the Doak vs. JN/TF, et. al. debate, I agree with the access and interaction bias. It is a natural dynamic. I understand why others looking in might dislike this skew, but don't forget that Doak has done more impressive things of late (admittedly with great properties) than Jack or Fazio. He also doesn't look to fill the business of creating golf's equivalent of amusement parks: Trumps, High Alpine courses, Vegas imitations, etc....
GCA tends to retain the "purist" style thinkers and that alone will likely DQ JN and TF fans. Just a fact, jack!