This topic has been discussed here, but I am not sure if the following angle had been considered re ANGC:
Architecture (and maintenance) of a golf course should be true to the original land on which the course sits and the land's history.
ANGC sits on a former nursery/arboretum.
Ergo, the "manicured" look of ANGC absolutely fits the arboretum paradigm.
I, for one, am thankful that there are places like Friar's Head or Shinny or NGLA as well as ANGC. Variety is the spice of life.
And ANGC is true to the land on which it sits and its "genteel" Georgian heritage.
I think that the perfectly manicured ANGC fits the land's heritage better than "rugged and shaggy" ANGC that some treehouse dwellers would like to see.