Joel, you are mistaken - John Daly or Bubba won't win there because there is no benefit to hitting it 350. No bomber has ever won at Oly. It's always a thinking plodder. In a sense, the architecture and terrain at Oly - and most importantly the way they work together - is quite intelligent and has been a check on equipment and technology. That's why this Open is going to be so good - it's going to be wide Open.
Several members (other than you) have said to me they think that the new bunker and the rest of the work Love did fit well with the rest of the course. They say it looks like Whiting. In total, I'd say the reviews I've heard are reasonably positive. No one is turning cartwheels down Lombard Street, but you are the only person this resoundingly negative. I like you and respect you, but on this issue, maybe you've invested too much for too little return?
Your problem seems to be that because you didn't get a perfect restoration to the exact specifications you wanted to see, you are determined to vilify the work. I saw where you called it one of the great architectural crimes of the century or something...that it completely off the deep end. Go talk to members of Crestwood Golf Club about an architectural crime of the century. Or go talk to members of courses who fall into disrepair or get remodels in the flavor of a completely different architect or lose all their greens to disease.
And who knows what the future holds? Maybe next time, the influence of the minimalists may have expanded so that when the next person is chosen for what ever work needs to be done, they may pick someone you find more palatable.
As to 7, could someone post a pic (I'll try to find one too). I agree this far with you Joel, I don't like it when a unique classic feature gets bulldozed to make way for something pedestrian, and to that extent, your ideas about 7 green are lucid. But why have the other members I've talked to, and why do those posting here at GCA.com seem not to mind so much?