I have just been reading some MacKenzie. Not to overly interpret what I am reading, as it seems that MacKenzie is not the most consistent writer, but it seems to me that MacKenzie is less concerned about the golf hole characteristics than about the "fun" or sporting nature of match play over medal play. Here are some quotes from THE SPIRIT OF ST. ANDREWS:
"I believe that one gets far more fun in playing a match for five or ten dollars and licking one's opponent by lofting a stymie on the last green than you can ever get in taking your score. If you score is a good one you will remember it, but if it is a bad one why make life a burden by doing so?
"In Scotland, on completing a round, no one ever asked you "What is your score?" It is always, "Did you beat him?" or "Was it a tight match?"...
"It often seems to me that on a good course golfers get their fun in attempting the varied and thrilling shots that are required and in trying to beat their opponents, but on an indifferent course the only excitement they get is their score. [If I may insert a note here: This does not make any logical sense to me, but what do I know.] Surely there is far more fun in a contest against flesh and blood than against a card and pencil. [Another note: Can you not have both on the same golf course?]
"There is nothing that worries me so much as playing against a man who thinks only of his card and is perfectly indifferent to yours, unless it is perhaps playing with one who is over-sympathetic about your bad luck and your misfortunes... [Sounds like a personal problem for the Good Doctor. But what about the golfer who loves the game of golf but does not love competing against flesh against blood and prefers to take aim at his or her game vis-a-vis just the golf course alone?]
Here's a little something about golf holes:
"There are many of us who firmly believe that a contest between flesh and blood is the only true form of golf, and that too much attention to score play is detrimental to the real interest of the game.
"If too much attention were paid to the vitriolic outbursts of unsuccessful competitors in medal rounds, there would not be a first class hole left in golf"
Counter that with these words also from the same book:
"My friend, Max Behr, has written learnedly and at great length to prove that golf is not a game but a sport. He may be, and probably is, quite right, but it is no good quibbling about words; the chief thing to bear in mind is that golf is a recreation and a means for giving us health and pleasure.
"How often have we know committees, presumably consisting of men of intelligence, receiving the statement that golf is played for fun, with eyes and mouths wide open with astonishment? It is always difficult to persuade them that the chief consideration that should influence us in making any alterations to a golf course is to give the greatest pleasure to the greatest number. Any change to a course that does not do this is manifestly a failure.
"The only reason for the existence of golf and other games is that they promote the health, pleasure and even the prosperity of the community."