Y'all aren't giving the Doctor nearly enough credit for his wisdom....
I don't think he ever quite meant it in that you're attributing it to him.
He did write (in "Golf Architecture”) the following.
Are there any ideal holes in existence at the present moment? (1920)
I think that the eleventh (the short hole coming in at St. Andrews) may be considered so. Under certain conditions it is extremely difficult for even the best player that ever breathed, especially if he is attempting to get a two, bu at the same time an inferior player may get a four if he plays his own game exceptionally well. It has been suggested that the mere fact that it is possible to putt the whole length is an objection to it. Not doubt the timid golfer can play the hole this way, but he will lose strokes by avoiding risks. Even if an expert putter holes out in four strokes once in three times he can consider himself lucky. I do not know of a solitary player achieving success in an important match by this means. If a cross bunker were constructed at this hole it would become appreciably diminished in interest in consequence. the narrow entrance and the subtle slopes all have the advantages of a cross bunker without making it impossible for the long handicap man. These contentions are borne out by those attempts that have been made to copy and improve the hole by a cross bunker.
The exact same passage appears in Spirit of St. Andrews, BTW.
Elsewhere in the same chapter he said in a different way, more like what's being suggested here, but I still think it's out of context, given the following:
I was traveling from San Francisco to New York with a man who is affectionately know as Billy Humphrey. He said, "
What sort of hole do you think your 16th at Cypress Point is? I don't think a hole is a golf hole that can be played with a putter." "on the contrary," I said, "I don't think an ideal hole is ideal unless it can be played with a putter, but we won't argue about that. What is your trouble?" He said, Well I was playing this hole against Herbert Fleishacker for two hundred dollars. [Herbert Fleishacker has the reputation of not being able to get a ball off the ground but he is full of brains, is a very good approacher and putter, an often outwits a more powerful opponent.] It was my honor and I put two shots in the ocean. Then old Herbert gets his putter, takes four putts to reach the green, wins the hole and two hundred dollars." I am afraid I was not unduly sympathetic.
I think a part I bolded in the first quote puts all this in perspective and that Adam is right. MacKenzie was using this as code, and was trying to make a sensible case against the proliferation of cross bunkers at the time.
I DO think he also made the point even better (again in the same chapter of Spirit):
Many people consider a complete island short hole a good one, but holes of this type can never be considered completely satisfying, as only one shot is required, namely the monotonous pitch.