Craig,
Some nice holes there. The 18th was the best in my opinion, but there were some others. I will look through my notes and see what holes I found that Maxwell touched.
The course features one prominent aspect on almost every hole, an preferred angled approach into the green. Most of the greens run from back to front with subtle contouring. The ones that Maxwell touched are more noticeable, the sixth being one of those. It is a unique routing and at one time it probably had a most awe-inspiring setting at the top of the highest point in Tulsa I believe with views of the city below possibly. Another aspect of Tillie's work that was evident during that period of his career is the mounding that is used as a hazard alongside the fairways on the preferred side, instead of bunkering. From talking with Rand Jerris, this was typical of his work during that period.
The courses at the Oaks and at Tulsa Country Club were the early great courses in the state, along with Dornick Hills. They set the bar for greatness until Maxwell started proliferating the state with designs at Twin Hills, Muskogee, Hillcrest and others. The high quality of their design actually prompted Oklahoma City golfers to pursue high quality designs like Twin Hills and the original Alex Findlay layout of the Oklahoma City GCC north of the current club's location. The Tulsa clubs dominated state tournaments and provided the impetus for the OKC elite golfers to have strong courses built and to host these tournaments instead of traveling all the time.
At the time that Maxwell was working on the course at the Oaks, Tillinghast came through Tulsa on his PGA tour and met Maxwell and looked at his work at the Oaks and at Southern Hills. Tillie had some good words about the work from what I gathered. I'll have to look through the letters and see what/if he said anything in them specifically about the Oaks renovation.