There is so much that pops off the page from the Links Magazine article as problematic that I don't even know where to start.
First, Mackenzie's plan for the 16th was to borrow from a similar hole at Stoke Poges. It appears from the sketch above that they did consider a different location for the green, but I see no similarities between the hole depicted in that course sketch and the one in the purported Mackenzie hole drawing or today's version.
Second, the Mackenzie Oct. 1931 letter included in the article just reeks of later day creation. The "gut feeling" closing seems completely off kilter with what we know about Mackenzie's enthusiasm for the project, a project that wouldn't even begin construction until the next year.
Third, but probably not finally, that little bunker on the left side of the 16th was not part of the original design by Trent Jones. It was added after the hole was changed. At the same time, the back right terrace on the green was further raised. Probably not dispositive, but certainly interesting that two non-original features of the hole are included on a sketch supposedly drawn 17 years before the hole was constructed.