From my little perspective as a resort/public golfer: When ''dream' courses like Crystal Downs (6,500 yards), NGLA, (6,600 yards), Chicago (6,600 yards) began to climb and surpass courses like Medina #3 and Firestone in the early 00’s is the answer. I believe this trend allowed some to rethink why Kiawah and Whistling Straits were lauded as top resort courses. Pacific Dunes (6,600 yards) cemented the trend that fun was more successful than hard. For example, as a young man in Louisiana, I knew and read about the International (8,000+ yards) (the Pines at the International?) around the turn of the century. Why? Because ‘resistance to scoring’ was prized.
I saved my nickels and dimes to play the Prince Course (Kauai) in 2002. Golf Digest’s ranking had it somewhere in the top 40 in the US. I ran out of balls. I did not enjoy the experience. 20 years later when a playing partner told me at Gamble Sands that it couldn’t be a great course because the slope was <120, I suggested that he go buy the defunct Prince Course.
This is from a consumer perspective, instead of the architect/designer's; however, which one drives the other?