I guess the point I was trying to make is that Doak - to use one example - has benefitted from fantastic sites in places that are hard to get to. To a certain extent his architecture is a product of modern transportation and wealthy patrons who are willing to put a lot of money behind their vision. In fairness, he's earned this patronage by the quality of his prior work.
By and large, the Golden Age architects built courses pretty close to where people lived, although Augusta National may be an exception to this observation. Ross had to find a way to fit a course onto 100 acres at Wannamoisett, while Tilly had to make the bland landscape at Winged Foot into something world class. The patrons for these courses wanted something close by where they could play frequently.
The architectural challenge of Ballyneal or Sand Hills, with all that space and built-in wow factor, is quite different from the task of creating interest in a populated area where you take what you can get as far as the land is concerned.