Not sure if I have got what you are talking about because I can’t see the photo at work. But I think I have an idea.
On Rob Rigg’s old MacDonald photo tour thread Tom Doak mentions that there is a chipping area over the back of it’s “Road Hole”. He says that it was difficult to keep the ball on the green playing back to a front hole location.
So it shows that architects are employing such “hazards”.
Does any one else think that short grass around greens could work as a hazard because of the distance you end up away from the hole?
If there is rough grass or a bunker then your ball will be stopped relatively close to the green. So if there is space then a firm, what looks to be benign, short mown area around the green could be used to keep errant shots going.
Depending on pin positions, like mentioned by Tom, you may be left with an awkward distance to stop the ball.