Fazio is a very talented architect. He has an artistic/aesthetic flare that very few architects past or present have possessed. One of the reasons you will find variation from course to course is because of the variation in stylistic preferences of his associates.
His green designs are not a problem IMO. The greens are the strength of Sand Ridge, and they are very good at Forest Creek.
Aesthetic presentation seems to me to be a point of major emphasis. Often his hazards are places to create a lovely picture, off the tee or approaching the green. I’ve noticed a certain repetitiveness in the placement of the bunkers, there appears to be a desire to frame each hole. I’ve also noticed he repeats bunker shapes from course to course.
One of the tactics he uses is to landscape the area surrounding the tee. Often creating waste areas or actually bunkering the teeing area. His courses have hyper-natural appearance. I prefer the real thing, with all its potential ugliness.
In his desire to present a perfect picture, he often uses a heavy hand to shape the fairways and the result is sometimes a fairway that bears no relationship to the natural contours of the land. Forest Creek is an exception, the greatest asset that site had was the rolling topography and for the most part he utilized it with little interference…at least in using the major contours. But you will never find the smaller oddball natural ground contours on his courses. Even some of the more distinctive contours, like at the 18th at Sand Ridge, seems to a man-made manipulation.
Because he likes to be in control of the picture, he rarely pushes the envelope. For example at Victoria National you have all these wild waste piles. Instead of bringing them into play and creating some very unique holes--some possibly a little odd or quirky or exhilarating--he chose to use them on the perimeter, to frame the picture. And when they are perpendicular to play, you really aren’t aware of it….at least I wasn’t. One of the most interesting holes on the course is the par-5 on the front, which has a waste pile encroaching into play.
The fact you won’t find any bad holes or odd holes or quirky holes is a weakness IMO. Although aesthetically pleasing and possessing solid shot making requirement his courses can have somewhat staid quality, because he rarely allows nature to throw him off his formulaic path…each hole being a potential signature hole. If he ever let his air down he would be hard to beat.
His 'renovation' activities is another story.