For several years now, I have argued against MacKenzie's overuse of bunkers around greens, particularly on mounds surrounding greens. While it looked a bit better when constructed, I'm not sure if they could have survived the test of time as built, an important factor to consider. The way they are maintained today, probably the only way to keep them intact, is just awful looking. Sean, too, has countered the popular notion on this site that MacKenzie could do no wrong. Adam doesn't think the bunkers act as "framers?" That is curious.
The quality of MacKenzie's work at Valley Club, Pasatiempo, Cypress Point and Augusta is partially undone by his systematic positioning of greens surrounded by mounds, both man-made and natural. OK, the excessive bunkering looks tied in to the bunkering near the twelfth green and to the bunkers on the dunes to the right of the thirteenth green. However, the photo on page 148 is taken from the twelfth green, it is not at all the view you get playing the hole.
Why didn't MacKenzie do this sort of thing in the UK and Australia? Maybe his work crews had a lot more to do with it than MacKenzie. Who knows? I've never been to any of his California courses, but from what I can see, I don't like it. That isn't to say that I wouldn't enjoy the experience, but it is an odd technique that doesn't work very well aesthetically today and from a permanence perspective in the construction era.