Call me a d!ck, but why do we even bother writing reviews? People just want to be spoon fed recommendations without any detail.
1) Go to the map.
2) Zoom in on the area you're interested in.
3) Click on the higher rated courses rated courses in the area.
4) Read reviews... I hear some folks are pretty good at writing reviews for visiting players.
This is without doubt the best way to ensure you get to courses you'll like, because simple recommendations don't tell you much about what makes a course unique ( or run of the mill), nor do you get much of a feel for why that person's recommending them. Do they like (or hate); water carries, elevation, technical holes, long air it out holes, etc.
How nasty is the rough? That can be a deciding factor if you have limited time to complete a round.