I've reinvigorated this as an appendix to Mark B's "Memorability" thread, because I think his premise is essentially what I was getting at here. He just described it far more intellectually.
But I do think that now - more than ever - "overdesign" of golf holes is prevalent in order to prioritise wow / memorability / first play impact (call it what you will - it amounts to the same thing)....Even our best loved architects are guilty of this, I think sometimes because they are so skilled, they can effectively design for fun, adding features at will.
One thing I will say, given that it is topical at present, is that I think the Renaissance Club absolutely does not fit in to this category, being admirably restrained...
Again, I will reiterate that built-in "wow" can absolutely go hand in hand with the greatest design... Just not all the time... And on occasion, "simple" might have provided a better solution...