I agree with much that Sean says in his reply. There are two factors we've not mentioned about British golf - the World Wars. At the end of both the country was bankrupt and golf clubs were in financial difficulties. Members were scarce. There is another element to the British angle which is that we were not tourists. We did not travel overseas. We did not know what was out there. That began to change in the late 60s when air travel began to be affordable for the ordinary family. It coincided with RTJ building Sotogrande and Henry Cotton Penina. Slowly a new tourist industry grew and embraced all the northern Europeans, looking for warmer weather and better light for their winter golf. What they found was very different from what they were used to at home (I'm including Scandinavia, Germany, the Low Countries, which at that time still had classic courses and traditional clubs). They found resort golf. Not surprisingly, most was on American lines. This coincided with the start of televised golf. We began to see golf from America and with its Palmers and Nicklausen we were smitten. When Jacklin won his US Open it was one of the biggest things to happen in British golf. It was on a new course. It must be better than anything we have - it is, after all, American.
Americans cleaned up much of the early design work. RTJ was idolised in Europe and he, his sons, von Hagge and others got most of the big design jobs in Europe. For better or worse, lakes and fountains, eye-candy bunkers, seriously watered greens and all the other trappings were rampant and welcomed by the new generation of visitors whose home courses stimped at 2 or 3, whose bunkers were raked once a week, where drainage was seriously problematic and carts and buggies hadn't been thought of. Inevitably the new generation of British courses were designed by Americans - St Mellion, East Sussex National, Oxfordshire, Carden Park and so on - and you could easily believe you were in some resort abroad, if only the weather were not so frightful. Then came the explosion of Florida as a holiday destination for Brits. Golfing Brits discovered it too and many still think it is the best place on earth. They are not going to get to play Merion, Shinnecock, Crystal Downs or Prairie Dunes, so they have no inkling that there are fabulous traditional designs out there. American golf to Brits is alligators, island greens and the rest and what we see on TV from the tour confirms that. What we see on TV of the European tour is also American golf. We've been catching up. 40 years after we first saw it on TV we now have American style courses on which our professionals demonstrate their talents. If Rose can win at Muirfield Village, McDowell can do it at Celtic Manor.
We take most of our 'improvements' from America - not just golf, but guns and all those wonderful things we see on American TV because we can't be bothered to make our own programmes. America is 40 years ahead of us in appreciating proper golf course architecture. Unfortunately I won't be here in 2050 to witness the restoration movement coming to Britain. Rather more unfortunately there will be even fewer records available in golf club archives to link our long-neglected courses with Braid, Vardon, MacKenzie, Fowler, Simpson, Herd and the rest. Having been mixed up in umpteen centenary books I am aware of how little archival material has been kept. I am also aware that in most cases these architects were not held in particularly high regard by the clubs employing them. They were tradesmen who were payed for their work in the same way that the brewer was paid to supply beer. They were simply a line in an accounts book - if it survives.