Phil,
I try not to look at a course like Tillinghast's Aronimink from today but rather in context with courses of that era and his other courses. Aronimink was early Tillinghast. I am simply stating that his earlier works were not outstanding from the start. He went through a learning curve and the quality of his work can be viewed as being on a similar curve. It isn't right to look back with today's courses in mind, except as it regards designing in elasticity. Otherwise, I agree, it is best to consider courses as they relate to their own era and within context of the architect's work. Considering that Myopia, NGLA, Pine Valley and Merion were all in various stages of development, the work at Aronimink was not very good and seemingly not very strategic.