Kelly Blake,
We're now getting into matters of architectural intent, and that isn't always something that is readily discerned by the golfer or the critic. I don't think that always represents a failure on their part--if you're out there referencing Woking on a new course in Ohio, not everyone is going to pick that up without a tip. Like artists, building architects, writers, and so on, the ability to communicate the ideas behind the product in written or spoken form is a part of the golf architect's skill set.
As a blanket statement, I disagree that critics don't understand the distinction between originals and "reproduced versions", but again, intent. Macdonald didn't just want to reproduce the classic holes of Britain, he wanted to make them better than the originals. If I play a modern "Redan" that I think falls flat, it might be hard to say if the architect was going for a "classic" Redan and just botched it, or shooting for some kind of creative infusion. Depending on the stakes--the overall significance and public profile of the course--this distinction may or may not matter.
I started writing a response to your last handful of lines, regarding raters and magazines, but deleted it as moving in the direction of yet another Rater Thread probably doesn't advance the topic that Ian started. Where architecture goes next is much more interesting to discuss.