I think the largest contribution that RTJ Sr. made to the game is that he helped build a LOT of courses during a time of great growth in the game, fueled by the popularity of the working man, Arnold Palmer.
The irony is that his very earliest courses are the ones I find the most interesting, and the ones that reflect some of his tutelage under guys like Stanley Thompson. For instance, Green Lake State Park GC near Syracuse is a fun and interesting course, and by the 40s, he had built The Dunes in Myrtle Beach, which I think is an excellent course in many respects.
The problem, as I see it, is two-fold. First, he built so many damn courses for so many purposes that most of them are missing the fine details that only come through hours and days onsite, and they tend to all look and play the same (remind you of any modern architects?).
Secondly, after the 50s, he seemed to take his "Open Doctor" methodology that he developed to test the pros and let that become his primary design philosophy. Thus, the typical RTJ Sr. course has flanking fairway bunkers that the average guy can't reach, long approaches to HUGE, multi-dimensional greens that the average guy is unintentionally laying up to, followed by stereotypical green surfaces that get old after awhile.
Oh yes, throw in par fives with greens fronted by water hazards for the typical "heroic risk reward" type of shot and you've seen most of his repetoire.
For the average golfer, the concept of "hard par, easy bogey" translates to yawn-inducing boredom, even though no one walks away from one his courses saying that it's too easy. Just...ultimately lacking interest and imagination.