while i can't give any design tips on real world courses...
here is how i go about what i do in the designer:
first thing i do is flatten the entire course just a few feet above water level, in fact, i get it to the exact height that the retaining wall has, so it sits flush with the retaining wall if i want to add a retaining wall later on.
I then work my sliders: fairway slider to zero, green slider to zero, rough sliders to zero, rocks to zero, trees to zero, grasses to zero,......everything goes to zero.
the next part is where i open up the playbook, i have options on how i go about things here, my options that i use are:
-plan all 18 holes and lay down their dummy locations
-free style hole by hole in no order
-sculpt the plot with no golf ideas in mind
most of the time i pick the second option.
so lets continue with the that option:
I will do a hole, just one hole near the middle of the plot. this hole will not necessarily be hole 1:
first i mark the start of the fairway, i then measure out a green on with an "X", then i draw a random shape for the green while keeping in mind the distance to the tee and what angle(s) the approach is coming in at.
I then draw a fairway (all drawing done is with distance marker), i then draw bunkers. once all the drawing is done, i start filling in the textures, greens go first, then fairways and light rough, then bunkers.
now its time to do some sculpting, starting with the green, then the bunkers, then the fairway. the bunkers are done before the fairway here because i usually sit them close to the fairway, and to avoid crinkles as much as i can, its best to sculpt them first before the fairways.
i then do some play testing and go back and sculpt the green in more detail.
now its time to add the tee box areas, plot those down, get em flattened and clean, and then i start looking at the golfers vantage point from the tee box(es).
i go back to sculpting to maximize viewing angle and capitalize on showing the eye tricks (using sizes and shapes vs distance), making things look further or closer than they actually are, now i know this does diddly squat in this game due to approach cam/zoom in, but i like to visualize that its real, and the golfers would not have this.
once i feel the visuals match the play-ability on this hole, i then decide if i want it to be hole number 1.
if it is, i then start on a clubhouse nearby.
once that is done, i will map out holes 18, 9 and 10, i call them the 4 corners of the course. (holes 1,9,10,18) as they all need to make sense in location to the clubhouse, these holes also dictate the direction for the rest of the course that i am about to build.
so after mapping those other 3 holes out, i will work in hole 18 just like i did the first hole, next up is 9 and 10.
once the 4 corners are done, i will map out either the front or the back 9, sometimes ill just go ahead and map out both 9's.
i like to work my way from inside out, do the holes closest to the clubhouse first, and work my way out to the furthest holes from the clubhouse, i adopted this strategy after McKee McGrodo, with its below par 18th hole, was so burnt out, that hole was just mailed in. so if i was to mail a hole in, it would not be one of the most important holes on the course.
once i got all 18 holes laid and textured up, i bring the tree slider back on for good, go around deleting stupid trees and bushes, and cleaning up grass areas that should be getting a mow job. stupid trees are trees that have grown way to close to other trees.
then i work in heavy rough in places that i think need it and add in some finishing touches along the way, all while play testing after each hole and write down errors i see to go back and fix or clean up.
i dont take any scientific approach to this, as quite frankly, i know nothing about real world designers or designing in general, everything i go by is what i have seen on courses i have played and watched be played by others.