Ryan,
Given we don't just look at golf courses, are you not overlooking the crucial aspect of how the bunkers play?
I have played from lots of bunkers with flashed faces. Very few of those outside of Melbourne are even remotely similar in playability to the bunkering at Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath or Metro (and others I've not played, I'm sure).
IMO this is an example of the dumbing down of golf to pretty pictures and ignoring the most crucial aspect: how it plays.
Here's a picture of a flashed face bunker on my home course in Sydney. We routinely see balls plug in the face of this and other bunkers on the course due to the native sand being far different from that on the sandbelt. You'd need some impressive ball speed to plug a ball in the face of a bunker at RM!
