Thomas,
I made it sound like only the new generation wants more amenities, but in reality, 12 year old me immediately knew the difference between the country club I was an occasional guest at and the muni I played more regularly, and even then, I knew I wanted to play the better courses. Granted, I may have had more interest in architecture than most golfers, but still, we all want nice places that don't just kill our golf game.
I have a bit of an ongoing discussion with a golf biz guy, who says any course with a slope rating over the average of 116 will be a money loser, as golfers eventually gravitate to closer, cheaper, and easier (but not too easy) courses. I understand the premise but argue the details. My contention is that in a big city with many CCFAD's built in the last 40 years, that the average slope will probably be 120-125. Golfers basically want to play where they can approximately shoot their normal score, not a lot more and even not a lot a whole lot less, either, at least on a consistent basis.