Malcolm,
I concede that it plays harder than it looks, but it doesn't look or play particularly hard. I'm all for subtlety, but I don't see Springdale having more than three or four holes that I consider all that noteworthy. I don't find the design particularly, subtle, I just find it to be somewhat uninspired. I think many on this site feel similarly - good course for sure, but not great.
Look at it this way don't think even the most ardent Flynn fan would note it as one of his top designs, whereas most Raynor fans would consider Yale to be amongst his best, if not his best. Assuming arguendo that both Raynor and Flynn are similarly highly regarded, the fact that Yale is one of Raynor's best and Springdale is not considered one of Flynn's would seem to support a conclusion that the Yale course viewed (rightly or wrongly) as being objectively better. Again, redesign vs. original, boring piece of land vs. one-of-a-kind property...all of these factors play a role, but I don't think people fail to comprehend the subtleties of Springdale, they just prefer Yale.