When does a 'clubhouse' become something else?

"Fashions in golf courses, as in ladies' clothes, seem to be so frequently hopelessly exaggerated" - HS Colt

Blogger Top 100 Golfer's latest post, showing the new-look Sebonack Club House, brings to a head something that has been bothering me for a while - the point at which clubhouses become nothing of the sort.

I just don't think that warm, homeward-bound feeling as you walk down the 18th fairway is quite so marked when the building you can see in the distance looks more like a hotel. Look through the slide show of 'Most Expensive Private Golf Clubs', to which Top 100 Golfer links at the end of his post and you'll see further examples of what I'm getting at.

I know there's no hard and fast template where clubhouses are concerned but to me the word suggests somewhere discreet and cosy; a backwater tucked away from life's mainstream, where people with a shared interest go to hide for a few hours each week. I don't want the backdrop for my final approach shot to be an edifice that suggests there's muzak in its lobby and some git with a blazer and a plastic smile behind the reception desk, dedicated to maximising my user experience.

Given that the biggest offenders in this field tend to be those clubs whose exclusivity is reflected by their comparatively small membership, they clearly don't need that much space, which compels me to think the unthinkable...
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When the conversation flags at your 19th this weekend, lob in some golf course trivia. The world's longest par 7? America's remotest course? The only free nine-holer anywhere? You'll find them all here.
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