In the case of Merion, I agree with what you are saying John. The work of Fazio needed time to mature and it has. It is no longer the "White Faces Of Merion" according to some, but they did what they did to get, and did get, a US Open.
Fazio is building a pretty good track record with Winged Foot, Merion and Augusta of taking old courses and setting them up for the modern championship game. The problem is the courses can't stand up to players and technology, it is not his fault that he has to deepen bunkers and lengthen courses and move bunkering.
Yale is a different story. Unions cost and lack of money were the real problems at Yale. Rulewich did not help by building RTJ bunkers next to Mac/Raynor bunkers. The original project was simply to put more sand in the bunkers. It evolved, so Rulewich was probably stuck in certain spots with inadequate funding.
To paraphrase Paul Turner, the greatness of Yale is defined by its terrain, not its bunkering. Scott Ramsey, and the people who hired him are the real saviors of Yale. Scott worked out deals with the union and the pictures in Dan's thread speak for themselves about Scott's work. It brings out a real interesting question of who is more important, the Super or Architect in a restoration?
He is not loved in New Haven, but your friend Dr Childs being a pain in the butt probably pushed Yale to look at what they had. Scott has said a number of times that he is just getting started. I hope he is not taken by some other club in the next few years!