I agree with those that found the hole descriptions and template inspirations particularly interesting. The one that caught my eye was the connection between the 4th hole (current 13th) to the 17th hole at Cypress Point. I don't see that at all.
. . .
As strange as is the first reference to CPC 17th, the second reference might be stranger still:
The hole will have some of the best golfing features of the Seventeenth Hole at Cypress Point, California, and the ideal hole depicted in C.B. Macdonald's book.The second reference, the ideal hole CBM's book (Scotland's Gift, 1928) is presumably to MacKenzie's own winning hole design from Country Life's ideal hole competition (1914.) CBM had incorporated the plan, (at least in part) into the the 18th hole at the Lido course. In Scotland's Gift, AM referred to the hole as having launched his career in golf architecture. Here is the plan in question:
On paper this hole hardly jumps out as being similar to ANGC's 13. But perhaps AM was thinking that all three examples require the golfer to decide how much of the hazard to cut off, and by successfully challenging the hazard the golfer can shorten the hole and improve upon the angle to the green. Granted the two inspirations provide more physically distinct alternatives and CPC's 13ths choices seem more subtle, but if we disregard the distance differences in the holes I think we can get the reference.
Another possibility is that the reference is not to MacKenzie's ideal hole design, but is to rather to the second prize design (which I believe was Raynor's prize dogleg) also depicted in CBM's book.