Mark
There is no doubt there was explosive growth between 1889 and 1914...I stumbled across research that claimed the number of courses in the British Isles jumped from 106 to 1801 during this period (I think your numbers are low on both counts). On the other hand the first half of this period was not exactly marked by stellar architecture.
And although there was a slowdown, comparatively, between the wars, that period was not a whitewash. It was a period of modest, but steady growth, very good to great golf architecture and wealth of architectural writing and debate...thanks to Darwin, Hilton, Ambrose, Simpson, MacKenzie, Campbell and others. And not just in the major golf magazines, Golf Illustrated and Golf Monthly, but also in The Times, other newpapers, and wide vareity of magazines from Country Life to Vanity Fair.
I agree with you that perhaps the upper class (typical Club member) were less likely to be a war casualty (although no doubt they lost their share too). As far as I know no golf architect was killed during the war...although HH Barker was wounded and years later died from complications....Guy Campbell was wounded and CK Hutchison was a POW.
"As for the magazine articles - VERY FEW people read them. They may have been of high quality but a lot of those buying Country Life ignored those articles as much as they ignored the classical music page, which also died about the time they stopped writing about golf. This was a time when magazine and newspaper proprietors and editors were not driven by sales/reader figures but by what they felt ought to be there - just as dear old Radio 3 did when I joined, but certainly did not when I left."
I'm not sure how you arived at this. How did you conclude people did not read these articles (in The Times, Golf Illustrated, Golf Monthly and variety of other sources including CL)? Have you checked the letters to the editor in The Times from 1910 throught the 1930's? You'll find plenty of architectural banter...including a letter from Max Behr via Guy Campbell. The founders of CL, Edward Hudson and George Riddell (later Lord Riddell), were astute businessmen and made a fortune in publishing. Quality & substance and driving sales are not mutually exclusive. His death (Hudson's death) in 1939 has been cited as the beginning of the magazine's downfall....he has been credited with being the creative genius behind the magazine's success.
I would not be surprised if the typical Brit today was unaware of Liphook or West Sussex, however I would be surprised if the typical Brit of the 1920's--who was regular reader of The Times or Golf Illustrated--was not well aware of both.