It's been a while since I've seen this kind of complaint but it doesn't surprise me. This used to be a common refrain way back before the community collectively figured out how the numbers work with regard to one's progress.
You could very well be at that place where the game is recognizing your progress and adapting to it by doing exactly what you're thinking-making it harder. This doesn't mean your clubs magically change (although there are those that think that) or shots change. You just can't get away with some things as easily as you have been. Think of all those good results you got from so-so shots. It's getting to the point where so-so ain't cutting it and you have to deal with it by improving your game.
p.s., Something that would go a long way to making your game much more effective would be to replace that HB with a 64W. You might not have taken 4 shots to get out of the junk had you had one of those. ;-)