"The natural or the wild was the way they utilized the plants within the garden (in opposition to the Victorian carpet bedding) and the way they melded the garden with the outside world. The garden extended the house into the midst of Nature."
“Sissinghurst and Great Dixter are enclosed as well, but of course you already knew that."
Tom MacWood;
So what, all the better to seamlessly meld the house and garden through enclosed walls and straight into the outside world and into the midst of Nature, right?
The star of Capablilty Brown’s landscape gardening style did rise in the 18th century and then fell into the 19th century as greater “naturalism” in landscape gardening took hold. But it’s ironic to your point that some of the purists of the highly formal English gardens that preceded Brown blame him for destroying those highly formal English gardens to make way for his form of naturalism---eg the massive English “park” (parkland estate) that were most of his commissions. A style of landscape design, by the way, that did evolve from the painting art often known as "the Beautiful" (in the sense of its interpretations of Nature) that emanated from the likes of artist Claude Lorrain et al.
But then Brown’s star rose again into the 20th century which is important for us on here to know, as it is the century, by the way, where most of the best man-made golf architecture was designed and built and hit its peak, in both England and America, particularly inland and particularly with what has become known as the “parkland” style of golf architecture. It’s instructive for us to know that some of Brown’s “park” designs and projects are used as golf courses. Are any of Gertrude Jekyll’s projects used as golf courses?
Repton was critical of Brown occasionally but he also defended him and his work. You seem to want to make it look like he may’ve hated everything he did. One should never advance one-sided historical revisionism to make some point. A more balanced and more accurate presentation of history is necessary to understand it best.
But, again, let’s not forget, we are a golf architecture website here. Brown’s landscape architecture designs have influenced golf course architecture tremendously, particularly it’s “parkland” style that is of no small significance or consequence in the context of golf course architecture generally. Both England and America are replete with "parkland" style courses and have been for the last century.
You should try a bit harder to understand this and admit to it instead of constantly trying to defend your fairly unsupportable point that the "Arts and Crafts" Movement and perhaps the landscape gardeners who endorsed it are some primary influence on golf course architecture of the 20th century including the Golden Age.