I view golf as a trip through nature rather than a trip through a garden.
Jason, I find this statement puzzling, as I wonder, what are great expanses of monocultured bent or bermuda grass if not a "garden?" I have chosen to live in places where I have little or no lawn so I don't have to maintain it, and my wife does all the gardening that's done in our house. There's a guy in our neighborhood who built a "Prairie-style" house and surrounded it with a "Prairie." Some would say it's a weed-infested eyesore, others a garden. I enjoy the iconoclasm of it, and it must be low-maintenance.
Let's be real--with the amounts of fertilizer, water, and manual and machine work applied to a golf course, it is surely a walk in a garden, not a "trip through nature."
I personally pay little attention to flowers on the golf course but am occasionally gratified by my wife's observation and enjoyment of them. Having said that, were I a member of a club that was spending large amounts of money on flowers and fountains, I would object. Sort of like yelling out loud that I object to Congress, I'm sure I would be disappointed in the results.