LOL do you think I'm underrating it? You think it's shoulder-to-shoulder with Ross' best work? Because I think that's a much more controversial take than what you quoted...
You called it a "pretty average Ross." Disagreeing with that (which I do) certainly doesn't mean "it's shoulder-to-shoulder with Ross' best work." I'd very roughly estimate that it falls in the 50-75 range among Ross courses, which I would argue makes it far from average. It's at least a Doak 6, possibly even a 7. Granted, Ross designed a large number of 6s, but the average Ross course (among 400+) is probably a 4 or so.
I don't think the average Ross is a 4. I think one of the greatest achievements of Ross' career is that he basically didn't build mediocre courses. There would have to be a lot of 3s and 4s in his portfolio to drop his average that low. So surely you could name a couple of them if you think the average Ross is a 4. I can't.
The "worst" Ross I've seen is probably Granville or Dennison or whatever it's called now. Even that course, with its bastardized routing and century of architectural neglect, is still comfortably a 4 in my book and arguably a 5.
Ward's take is interesting. I just don't see the "slog" at Otter Creek. With modern techology, the course is pretty damn sporty in my mind. And where are all the forced carries?
Hole 4 on the West, obviously, has one. The very short par 5 that follows asks you to fly your wedge approach about 45 yards over the bunkers that front the green or you'll need to get up and down. I guess I'm a masochist but I would call these two of the coolest holes on the course. 1 on the North 9, another short 5, requires a carry of about 13 yards over the creek on the approach. I guess you need to fly it about 70 yards to reach the fairway on 2 on the West. I believe this is a comprehensive list of forced carries at Otter Creek...
By comparison, TDRC@FL requires carries at 4, where even the white tees require a 150 yard ball uphill to clear the bunkers well short of the green. There's another at 6, to clear the ravine that separates the tee from the green on another 200+ yard par 3. Then there's the shot over the ravine at 8 - it's 120 yards or so if you position your tee shot absolutely perfectly. You have to clear the water on the tee ball at 11 - this is at least as intimidating a tee shot as the aforementioned 2West at Otter. There's another huge carry on another huge par 3 at 13. Even the meager 16th is an all-carry par 3 and would be the longest forced-carry at Otter Creek. And 17 throws a topshot bunker at you off the tee, just for "fun."
Objectively, there are more forced carries, and carries of greater severity, at TDRC@FL as compared to Otter Creek.
I also think it should be noted - TDRC@FL (par 70) rates 75.7/149 from the back tees, and 70.4/139 from the blacks. Otter Creek (par 72) is 75.8/139 from the tips, and 71.8/128 from the blues. These numbers suggest that the two courses pose a similar challenge to the strong player, but that Otter Creek is quite a bit more accommodating to a weaker player. We usually value courses that walk that balance architecturally... but we also usually value Ross over Jones.
This is why I think this topic is interesting - these broad brush criticisms that are often true of RTJ's work, and the broad brush praises of Ross' best traits, just don't hold up when applied to these two courses specifically.