I mostly grew up playing golf in a club environment at a reasonably nice, middle of the road place (as far as clubs go) in Northern Virginia. The clubhouse did have all the standard things (locker room, showers, bar, grill, restaurant, bagroom, etc) but it wasn't too overdone -- and I think not more than the club could afford.
That clubhouse seemed like a palace to me at age 13, when I had first learned the game (age 10) at a much more hardscrabble club nearby that had practically nothing. The facilities at this second club REALLY added a lot to my experience as a junior and made me look forward to visiting even more (though I would have done it for the golf anyway). I played 3-4 times a week as a teenager.
After college my family didn't belong to the club anymore and it was public golf for me. The courses I went to were fine -- middle of the road, somewhat upscale but not outrageously. However, even at these reasonable courses the clubhouse amounted to a golf shack compared to the one at the old club. It was not a place of your own where you could sit down and relax and order some drinks -- even though the drinks were available.
I think it had a lot to do with the anonymousness of the usual American public facility, to be sure. I bet a humble golf shack in the UK would possess way more than enough charm to draw my attention.
The very best day of my golfing life thus far was spent at Merion. Now, the golf course naturally had much to do with that. However, the members I was playing with, the caddies, and all the staff were wonderful. The clubhouse experience was sublime and wayyyyy on a different level than I was used to.
Wouldn't give any aspect of that day back, for any amount of money. I'm totally aware that clubs and memberships often spend more on facilities than they can afford and that's bad. But I would mourn the extinction of the really finest places the game has to offer -- and that includes clubhouses just as much as courses. The really great ones are places that allow the membership to offer a style of friendship and interaction that enhances the game, not detracts.
I think both my old club and Merion did it well and did it appropriately. I don't want either to go away. The game of golf is also about building architecture, not just golf architecture.