Your kind words and thoughts are very much appreciated (as are Tim's good words), but......
Guys, I was just a bean-counter, tour guide, and chief worrier. The real kudos go to Steve Smyers, his design partner Patrick Andrews, who lived at the club for 3 months (really; he stayed in one of our rooms), OFCC Director of Grounds Sam MacKenzie, who had overall control of the project as club representative and did ALL the grassing, and Wadsworth Golf Construction Company, who hit the right beans. The Architects and Sam controlled the project details, and me and my committee weighed in on big policy questions, counted the beans, and watched them to do their work.
Tom, Tim has it right, the work was a combination. In certain areas, the Architects restored lost features pretty closely -- chiefly green expansions some lost bunkers, and certain lost landforms; elsewhere, they worked off the old patterns in remodeling; and, they put in new back and forward tees, and a completely new 3rd hole (and greatly revised the 13th). Also, as you say, it isn't completely clear who is responsible for what, but it does appear that Bendelow is most responsible for the routing and most of the holes. Work may have been done by Watson (who I think did design the 9th hole, which came from one of the other courses), Daray, Harry Collis and even possibly Willie Park (as you have pointed out to me).
Regardless, the work has gone over very well with the membership, which is most important. As chief critic, I must say it is an absolute blast to play, and my first thought after finishing 18 is to go back to 1. I do still think that some of the bunkering will be controversial. For example, on the 4th hole, a 540 yard par 5, they put back a jumbo "Himalaya" bunker short left of the green. Better players going for the green in 2 now have a real risk (Steve was at the club last Tuesday, played in our regular Tuesday shotgun, and knocked it in there ), while the rest of us won't get near it, but will have it blocking our view if we play second shots safely to the left rather than skirting a fairway bunker to get to the right side for our approach. The aesthetic still seems a little much to me, but it plays fantastic, which, as Shelly Solow never ceases to remind me, is what counts. And most of the rest of the course is just gorgeous, with many more open vistas and views across the course, etc. And now that I have had a chance to see how the course plays as a whole, it appears that virtually every one of their choices made real strategic sense.
I'll be interested in seeing what people think. As Jon Winick says, we're basically in grow-in mode, and it's going to take a year or so before it really starts to play like it's supposed to. As to playability, again, though, it was Steve and Patrick that shortened 4 holes from the regular tees, left every hole but one with an open front, and put back a lot of bail-out and run-up areas. And hey, last week I shot a net 65.
I'll get some more pictures up at some point.
Jeff