If the club is using that language, it’s clear that it’s a “restoration” not a restoration. Nobody seems to want to restore the greens to how they used to be.
Why a badge of honor? Fast greens are expensive, hard to create, take work and expense to maintain, and emulate professional golf. It’s a conspicuous demonstration of access to abundance, which mirrors a lot of the historical themes of country club culture.
I’m actually shocked and very pleased at the amount of pushback we now have about how nonsensical some green speed have gotten.