TEPaul,
You've made a good point about the current 9th, old 18th, but, George Bahto did indicate that the green was huge, coming back into the current fairway a good distance, and the schematic in "Scotland's Gift" seems to indicate additional bunkering at the second shot landing area. Lastly, I wonder if the winds, and especially the afternoon winds are out of the south. If so, the hole becomes far more difficult than it's current version.
This might be a good topic for us to discuss with George after our January 11th get together.