Art and design are not exact sciences.
These kind of pursuits are made more of strong feelings, preferences and opinions.
Certainly, there are plenty of things around the building of courses, functions of systems such as drainage, safety buffers, etc. which can be fitted with rules and equations, but as far as the arrangement of the course and how it plays or looks...
You can only know what you prefer some things and the reasons why you prefer them.
According to the dictionary:
Theory - 1. An explanation based on thought or speculation. 2 An explanation based on observation and reasoning. 4. An idea or opinion about something. 5 Thought or fancy as opposed to fact or practice.