It was a feature on most if not all the Nugent courses I have played. Aldeen as mentioned above, Kemper Lakes, George Dunne/Forest Preserve National, Harborside, Glendale Lakes and others I cannot recall. If used sparingly it is fun. A maintenance issue is the bunker becomes a superhighway for all the Giant Canadian Geese to get in and out of the lake. They hang out in the bunker and crap all over. Many of them are really disgusting.
Yes, Dick Nugent used those a lot in the era I worked for him, starting at Kemper Lakes No. 7, which also included a RR Tie wall (vertical stacked) as well. As mentioned, a neat twist for variety if used once in a while (no more than once per course, for sure) Since being on my own (31 years now) I built 2 or 3 of those on 50 courses.
The inherent problems are holding the sand up (easily done by cutting a 4" lip just below the water line) and drainage. Where the typical bunker has a 4" drain tile a 1-2 feet below the sand surface, obviously, you can't do that (or at least it won't drain) when the water table is level with the bunker. Add in the capillary action of water in sand, and the lower portion and often more (as seen in photos) is usually wet. The problem is even more acute on lakes where the water level will vary quite a bit, either the typical nightly draw down of an irrigation lake, or the occasional water level rise due to flood storage after rains.
It works better if it sits up above water level, maybe with a rock wall if you want it right on the lake, but then, you no longer have what Dick Nugent called a "beach bunker."