Mark,
I basically agree with your premise, but perhaps not the negative tone of some responses.
The owner of a new golf course wants to hear the architect say "Fasten Your seatbelts, I want to try something new" as much as you want to hear that from your airline pilot!
And I will admit to saying, mostly in jest, while designing my one course in the Far East, "Let's Use Number 6 at Tiddly Links here, since I doubt any of these members will come to Texas to Play!"
This is not new. Ron Whitten, in researching Golf Has Never Failed Me, found about 75 versions of the same Donald Ross par 3. Of course, an architect has to adapt his style to special sites, like RTJ on the first five holes of Spyglass, Fazio at VN on a quarry, C and C at Sand Hills, Doak at TT (going from minimalism to really having to create, etc) But for each of these, there are stylistic similarities for each architect.
They occur because architects usually set "rules" for themselves, based on what they like as golfers, architects, etc. and what others have liked about their work - or not liked. Call this MacDonalds Philosophy, or call it (as a football coach might) dancing with who brung ya.
My mentors always said your design rules were meant to be broken, but if you do it too often, you just get a goofy golf course! They used 15 familiar concepts, adaped to site specifics, and with small cosmetic changes to avoid exact copies, and tried three new on each course. They kept their basic premises of visibility, receptivety, etc. in tact as often as they could - about 99% of the time.
I usually do the same, plus or minus a few new concepts. I was always a bit more willing to take chances than they were. Still am, even though I now also take the blame when it doesn't work!
Taken not only over geography, but over time, this idea promotes consistency, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but also allows and leads to an orderly evolution of design philosophy. That is important, because even if I came up with or copied a concept I liked, I wouldn't use it "wholesale" until I had a chance to evaluate it over a year or so of play, just to make sure it worked like I thought it would work.
BTW, I like both Smyers OM and SD!