Kenbrook,
Had the fortune to play Fox Chapel last week and felt that Brian's work there was up to Seth's standards. Of course it's been a while since I've spoke with Seth, but this was my conclusion.
Without very accurate LIDAR or mapping it is impossible to "restore" (truly) any golf course. In 1920/30/40/50/60/70/80/90s we did not have such technology and all of the detailed photographs in the world, no matter what angle or scale, will not yield a true picture able to be immulated that can attain "restoration" status. It is a figment of one's imagination to think we can "restore" golf courses accurately to anythign but an opinion of what might have been very likely possible and probably.
The best bet is to engage someone as thoughtful as Brian and allow his creativity to transcend the original designer's. When the chemistry between the dead and the living is right, magic will happen. I felt this at Fox Chapel. And, the sandwiches were good, too.
I was very amused by the discussion on the recent "abortion" of the Road Hole Bunker...some saying it "must be restored!". Restored to what? My God, the damn think was never a green in the first place, let alone a bunker. Do we "restore" it to 1257, 1390, 1457, 1700, 1879...or when?
Golf — the very spirit of the game and its playing board — is at odds with the notion of restoration. This game is not supposed to stay the same. The men and women who create the fields of golf should be continually tinkering — yes, occasionally injecting, fixing, disturbing, testing, ruining, fiddling, bettering, improving, screwing up, and transforming what was to what is.
Restoration — at least literally — is the least interesting and least rational of all golf's undertakings.