Joe,
I think the wide-angle lens in that photo makes the stakes even more obvious than they would be in person but I do agree with your take on stakes. Hey, at least the stakes are color coordinated with the gorse!
In doing armchair tourism it never ceases to amaze me how often a not particularly artistic photo of some uncelebrated course off the beaten track in Scotland, Wales or the Hebrides can still look so inviting I'm tempted to catch a plane tomorrow and go play there. If I were wealthy I could imagine spending ten days twice a year for the rest of my life going places that wouldn't ever show up on a packaged golf tour.
The north/west and south coasts of Wales, the far northern reaches of the Scottish highlands, Kintyre and Islay, the western Hebrides, the Kentish coast of England, even some of the inland areas of England and Scotland all could be worthy destinations for golf that would seem otherworldly to this not well traveled American and they don't require spending $200+ per round or staying in resorts that charge a couple hundred a night for a bed and a roof.