DMoriarty,
I find Tom Doak's assessment to be flawed.
High handicappers don't hit many greens in regulation.
But, they do hit their third or fourth shots to the green,
thus bringing rear bunkers into play for their ultimate approach to the green,
probably more so than the low handicap player with his approach shot to the green.
Since they are higher handicaps, and closer to the green, they probably produce significantly less spin on their approach shot, which brings the rear bunker more into play.
When the pin is back, near the rear bunker, the fear factor in the high handicapper escalates because they can usually see the rear bunker or surrounding earthwork from closer to the green, and they usually recognize that they're not good bunker players, and don't have the touch necessary to get the ball close to a rear pin, without challenging the rear bunker. Many, if not most, will leave their approach deliberately short because of the rear bunker, leaving them with a longer, more difficult approach putt.
Hence, I find rear bunkers more of a factor to higher handicap players than to lower handicap players.