From what I know, Sean, there was no step change in the 1895-1900 period, other than the fact that golf was becoming more popular amongst the upper classes and they had the money and need to build decent venues within easy reach of London. You couldn't build a course in the Heathlands by planting 36 sticks in the ground because you would quickly lose track of where the sticks were placed! So, you used your money to hire canny Scotsmen (e.g. Willie Park, Jr.) to do the dirty work of hiring other people to clear scrub and haul dung and other muck up and down hills until you could grow some decent grass. Once it was proved this was possible, the spread of golf to the Shires of England was inevitable, given the fact that this was where the money was (to paraphrase the famous American bank robber, Wille Sutton).
What was the step change was the invention and proof of concept of the Haskell ball, from 1898 onward. This not only made the game easier and more accessible to the "masses" (i.e. the middle class), it also made almost every course built before then obsolete, thus creating an increased demand for the services of golf course "architects." To me 1900-1910 was second "golden age" (the first being from 1850-1880), but that is just my humble opinion.
Rich