Tom:
Boy! You sure do ask a lot of questions. Sometimes I find it had to discern whether they are real questions or statements written in the form of questions.
I will presume your questions in the above post to be genuine and take a stab at them.
First, let me assure you that I don't think of myself as an expert on Fazio although I probably come closer than anyone who has only played a few of his courses. I guess I have played a lot of them but not as many as Ross courses, and I don't have a special concentration on Fazio. I have been playing for about 45 years and have been lucky enough to play a lot of courses by many architects. It just happens that I have spent 90% of my life in the Southeast and played a lot of golf in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida where Fazio has built the majority of his courses in the past quarter century. Some of his courses I like a lot. Some are pretty good, and some are nothing special. I have seen enough of his couses to know that there is more variation in his style than most people seem to think, and that broad general statements about his work are likely to be wrong. So far, I have not seen any of his "restoration" work but have seen a few of his total redesigns.
I cringe often when I read comments about Fazio that I judge to be mistaken or too generalized. Rarely do I speak up in his defense for fear of being accused of having a vested interest since I am a member of two clubs that have Fazio courses. Besides, I think it is a waste of time to try to change anyone's mind about Fazio.
Frankly, I don't detect many tendencies in his bunker design or placement. I would not consider his bunkering either his biggest strength or weakness. He has strengths and weaknesses that are much more important than his bunkering.
I suppose I like the bunkering at Forest Creek best of all his couses I have seen. He has cross bunkers on the par 5 third hole and a bunker in the middle of the fairway on the short par4 eigth. Neither are common features on modern courses. He has positioned some fairway bunkers that must be flirted with to gain the optimum approach, but he also has fairway bunkers that I call "sucker" bunkers. You are tempted to flirt with them but the penalty far exceeds any imagined advantage. He has also mixed in some waste areas that offer a look sometimes referred to as the "Pine Valley look". In most cases the severity of the bunkers is very appropriate for the shot required to get into and out of it.
Off the top of my head, I guess Treyburn CC in Durham, NC has his poorest bunkering I can think of. The course is built on some severe terrain and several of the bunkers serve absolutely no purpose other than to keep the ball on the golf course. But then, the fairway bunker to the right of the 2nd at Merion serves no purpose other than keeping the ball out of traffic.
I have begun to pay a little more attention to bunkering style when I play courses, because I know one can not discuss any course on this discussion group unless you are prepared to discuss bunkering. I may notice bunkering a little more on Fazio courses for the following reason. Many of Fazio's courses that I have seen come in pairs, that is, two courses at the same club. That would apply to World Woods, Black Diamond, Wild Dunes, Pelican Hill, Pinehurst CC, Belfair, Barton Creek, and Forest Creek (second course under construction). Anytime I see two courses on the same property by the same architect, I pay particular attention to differences/similarities in design style, including bunkering.
That is all I have to say on this subject.
Thanks for asking.