We've really gone too far with this "Every hole should be reachable with the ground game" stuff. I love the ground game. Love it. Loved all the Bandon courses. Rustic Canyon is one of my all-time favorites. I hit a low ball and I no longer hit it very far at all.
But the whole point of this thread (I think) is that nearly all of the truly great holes DO NOT NEED a bunker in front of the green to be great.
Well I certainly agree with the second part of your post. But the first part, not as much.. The thread presupposes that there might not be a single "great" hole on earth that has a fronting bunker. And that, to me, is absurd.
I love many holes with fronting bunkers/hazards. I especially love when they are placed late in a round. I love when a hole calls on your to execute a shot when the chips are down. I definitely prefer a hole where you have some room to bail out, certainly, but I prefer that if you do, you will have a very tough pitch to recover (turning a par 4 into a 4.5, say). However, if you pull off the shot (over a bunker, a hazard, etc.), you might make a birdie and square your match or go 1-up, etc.
I loved 17 at Bandon Dunes for that reason -- mostly and especially with a front pin. It's not fronted by a bunker, but by a ravine (gasp!). Two-thirds of it -- maybe a touch less. But even if it was 80% or even 100%, I would still love the hole -- especially to a front-right pin. You have to choose. Choose to take on the front ravine AND the ravine on the right, or bail out left, chip/pitch up, and hope you make your 6-footer. It challenges you to choose and then if you choose aggressively, to execute.