Kyle,
You are absolutely correct, the elevation changes, slopes and plateaus define the "strategy of play." What Oakmont does is it forces the player to find them. Not only does it require the player to ask, "what side of the fairway should I play to," each hole and each shot demands the right distance to position the player for the the best chance of making par. Since the greens are so severe, playing for par is also a sound strategy at Oakmont because double bogeys are always lurking - on literally every hole. Oakmont is a very strategic course, but one must play it enough to discover the right strategy for each hole. If he does not, per the Fownes doctrine, "a shot will be irrevocably lost."
To illustrate, let's look at again at the first three holes. On #1, a tee shot landing anywhere on the fairway is good, the longer the better, a short drive will leave a blind second shot. Then, just land your second shot on the front right corner of the green. On #2, the tee shot needs to find the right side of the fairway as close to the bunkers as possible. This will open up the severe second green and give you a view up its centerline to its contours and the bottom of the flagstick. Then on #3, you are playing from a runway tee that aligns the player to the bunkers on the right side of the fairway (see hole diagram that opens this thread) where the fairway slopes right, is steeper to the green and thus gives the player a blind second shot (note in the photo that there is a directional marker behind the green). However, for the strategy that makes a par more probable, the player needs to play a tee shot away from the direction that the tee alignment encourages, and land it on the flat section of the fairway that borders the "churchpews." This position offers a level stance and a view of the top of the flagstick.
Sometimes "strategic" courses force the player to learn the right strategy as determined by the architect rather than letting the player determine their own strategy. I think both styles are totally legitimate and both are a great deal of fun to play.