Von Hagge was very open that he loved creating shadows on his courses, but the prime mover on that was to create side views and sell real estate adjacent to the golf course. And, he had it down to a real art.
In the process, he would create many steep, nearly vertically banked fairway hazards that precluded nearly all hope of moving a shot forward. And, of course, were tough to mow. After real estate was sold, golf courses often reduced these features for cost reasons.
I recall playing the valley course at TPC some years ago. The grade level greens and pine tree shadows make them really disappear to golfers, at least in late afternoon when I played. It actually made me consider elevating greens specifically to make them more visible whenever working in wooded areas.
Mark is right that we try to route for sun to minimize looking into it on starting and finishing holes. Basically, a clubhouse anywhere from noon to 6PM on a site (if looking at it like a clock) sets it up pretty well, while clubhouses on the west side of most sites will give you problems.