Matthew, I'm curious whether this "degradation by race director" is happening when the RD's are using the certified map and description or when they've misplaced it? I've seen this kind of thing happen also, only usually it can be corrected by reference to official certification map. Not always-- a point in a remote area with only sketchy reference points might be an exception.
This relates to a "pet peeve"-- race organizers that treat the cert map as almost an afterthought, rather than a guide to setting up their course.