Ally, the scale of golf courses is something that has gotten larger, and does negatively impact in certain ways. Of course, if you put paths in, then greens and tees often have to be further apart. If you build bigger greens as suggested, they also take up more room. Of course, cities, roads, houses, lots, etc. have all gotten bigger from the old days, either because we have found we need the room, or we can afford it, or some combo of factors.
Another thought, but with all these good suggestions, many of which have been implemented at many courses, sort of lead to a formula for designing such places, which of course, many here object to. But, at some point, if the goal is X, the design response must be some variations containing the basics of Y to accommodate the goals of the design.
You can see how every era starts to get a sameness of design to their courses, as most are trying to meet the then current criteria for design, whatever that might be.