Ryan,
I think you have to compartmentalize "restoration"
To me, a restoration is obliterating an subsequent design change and returning to the original design intent.
An example would be the 12th at GCGC.
In the 60's the original hole was blown up and an imposter, an inferior hole created in it's place.
Recently, the hole was returned to it's original form.
To me, that's a restoration.
Another example of a restoration is the restoring of a bunker that was previously removed.
Now, the dicey part of the term "restoration" comes about when a feature is intended to be restored in form, but the location may differ. An analogy might be a 24 year old man returning to his childhood home and trying to fit into clothes he wore as a teenager.
With a bunker that was previously removed, due to the dramatic change in the game, do you return it to it's original location where it will be a vestigial feature, or, do you reinsert it where it was conceptually intended in the context of playability ?
The logical answer for me is, why create a bunker that's out of play ?
Ergo, I would restore the bunker in form, but, alter it's location.
To me, that's a sympathetic restoration.
One that FUNCTIONS as it was always intended to function.
I don't necessarily agree with Sean and Bob that restorations are solely about the look and visual.
Golf is an interactive game, the golfer and the architecture.
If you don't restore a feature so that it interacts with the golfer, what's the sense in restoring it ?