This thread does raise the issue, which may reflect the British experience more than the American, that 'external agencies' (local councils, planning committees, conservation bodies, railway companies) can have a considerable impact on the playing conditions of courses, regardless of whether the facility is private or public, or whether the club owns the freehold of the land over which they play. I am 95% certain that the trees to the right of the 8th at Lytham would indeed have been planted in response to discussions with the council and/or the former British Rail (or both), as they have been at similarly exposed locations (whether facing rail or road or property) around the British Isles: the newish lines of trees on the right of the 6th and 14th fairways at Huntercombe reflect precisely this situation, and I am 95% certain that (sadly) most readers of GCA would feel that these admittedly smallish clumps don't add to the playing or visual experience. At Harlech, the 3rd was once (as in the days of Patric Dickinson) a straight hole with a kink at the very end, with houses all the way about the right side: about 40 years ago the RStD Club was forced to replace the roof of a property to the right of the drive, and to put in two fairway bunkers moving the whole teeshot to the left. Otherwise, no 3rd hole. I personally agree with Sean Arble that such external intervention is quite legitimate, where public safety is involved, regardless of the antiquity of the links, but it won't always be in the best interests of golf course architecture per se.
This public scrutiny is particularly intensive in the UK for those clubs sitting in nature conversancy areas, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and means that tasks as basic as grading and cutting the rough are subject to constant external negotiation: at Harlech major rough-cutting is only permitted once a year, for the main fairway surrounds, resulting (as in the wet summer of 2015) in a depth and thickness of rough that is simply too extreme for the great majority of golfers. So when GCA commenters occasionally complain about 'absurd' rough or very overtight fairways, the situation may not (indeed often is not) the direct responsibility of the clubs themselves.
PS My own personal estimate of RLSA went up about 100% as a result of attending the recent Walker Cup: a profound test of golf.