Actually, there is a third option, which I, time permitting, may apply.
Make the outline of the country club an outer member of a multipolygon relation, then cut out as many holes as necessary for the residential streets and blocks of houses. Here’s an example: http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/relation/1505850
This appears to cover all bases: the country club in its entirety is still marked by an outline so tagged, while the rendered map only shows green where the actual golf course is. I believe Google follows this method: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&ll=33.715523,-116.317105&spn=0.023988,0.038195&z=15 while Bing believes in shading the whole polygon: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=33.71468436520902~-116.31590387373392&lvl=15&dir=0&sty=r&FORM=LMLTCC