Here's a wide-ranging article on the growth of golf in England, touching on many, many subjects that have shown up here: the tradesmen's clubs, the dearth of quality Scottish pros, the price of a course, St. Andrews, as seat of power of the rules makers, class, politics, economics, etc.
http://www.historytoday.com/john-lowerson/scottish-croquet-english-golf-boom-1880-1914