As most of you know RP just finished "restoring" Franklin Hills CC. I grew up at the course and still make it back to Detroit to play there quite frequently. I will say that I like the way the course turned out (except for some of the areas where they cut down all the trees but that had more to do with a fungus problem they were having than a real desire to remove all the trees) but I do not see how it is a "restoration". The bunkering especially looks nothing like how it used to look or ever looked from what I can tell. My grandmother has been a member there since she was a little girl and she says the bunkers never looked this way. (past club champ and still a 12 handi even at 80+ years old) Now I am very glad that they redid the bunkers, the sand was terrible but I was surprised that they made such a dramatic change in the way they were shaped and in effect the way they will play with these new deep sod faces. They also added quite a few fairway bunkers in different spots that were not there before. Now the end result may be a better golf course, I need to play there quite a few more times to make that determination but I dont see how you could call what he did a restoration because the course has been changed alot more than it has been restored to anything it was in the past.
As far as RTJ, I am a member at Eugene CC and they are making some small changed in the next 2 summers that were actually proposed by RTJ himself during a visit to the club a few yeras before he died. (at that time he was there with Jr. to make some other small changes that included taking out 3 bunkers that were added during the 80's by someone else) The club called RTJ Jr to administer the changes last year but he never returned their calls so they hired someone else but he is working from plans that RTJ Sr himself drew up. (if anyone is truely interested I can find out the name) Basically they are lengthening a couple holes by a little bit and moving a couple tees around. The end result should be great and the last changes made for a very long time. (on another unrelated topic I dont see how ECC gets a bad rap here, it may be tight in some spots but it is a wonderfull golf course with a great set of greens and a ton of character)