Cary,
I'm in contact with CBM on a weekly basis.
He informs me that you spoke to his assistant, not the great man himself.
Evidently, you call would have interupted a meeting with Seth Raynor and CBM and thus, he couldn't take your call.
He asked me to correct you regarding your statement about the absence of earth moving machinery.
He went on to add that a good deal of earth was moved at several sites, including the 8th green.
He suggested that the next time you're at NGLA, that you go behind each green and look back to see how much dirt was moved in constructing those greens.
As to the Biarritz, it was displaced/shelved because so many great holes became apparent to him upon his first and subsequent visits to the site. The natural Redan, just sitting there, waiting to be played. The natural and enhanced Eden with penalties for the topped shot and the wonderful short, from the lofty tee down to that wonderful green. In his out and back routing he could not locate the landform that would provide the perfect footpad for a Biarritz.
But, he didn't abandon the concept, taking it off the shelf at Piping Rock, Yale and other sites.