My home course, Brookside CC, in Canton, Ohio, has recently passed a sweeping restoration project that will include new tees on every hole, replacing lost bunkers, taking out misplaced bunkers, redoing all existing bunkers,recapturing lost green and fairway areas, and a new 4 row irragation system that better be having the course playing hard and fast. It will also include several areas over greens and around them that would be considered chipping areas. Many of the older members remember the days when the course would get hard and fast, especially during the summer months, and remember lots of bump and runs, and many unusual bounces.
Sounds like a good thing to me.
The reason I bring this up is that during a question and answer sessions at the club with Brad Klein, I specifically asked him about restoring pitching areas at BCC. He told me that he was not in favor of it. His rational was that the ground in the Mid-West, the clay in particular, wasn't suitable for pitching areas. I was very suprised by this answer. Even on wet days the are still plenty of options afforded with chipping areas. I'am interested in some other oppinions.