A very good question, Bob, and neatly phrased.
This might be a little off point, but I'd only say this: I find it interesting that (according to a recent 'technolgy' thread) the USGA used to test golf balls for swing speeds that maxed out at 109 miles an hour. Yes, swing speeds HAVE increased since then (i.e. the 60s and 70s), but not by THAT much, have they? And certainly not by as much as one might start to imagine.
I mean, take the modern golfer (i.e. in the gym ALL the time, with a better diet, a more "schooled" technique, and a greater self-discipline and self-regard) and then take an old style golf pro from the 60s, with his scotch-on-the-rocks diet, his girl in every port life-style, and his near fanatic aversion to doing ANY exercise whatsoever, and you'd think that swing speeds would have almost DOUBLED in the last 30 years, judging from the way people talk about it. Instead, they've gone up, what, 10 miles an hour on average, 15? And that's not even factoring in that maybe the old guys weren't swinging full out, EVER, because of the equipment they were using.
Which is to say, this is one of the absolute charms of golf: there are so many ways to play it, so many ways to score well, so many ways to work your way around a golf course, and so many different types of people/personalities who can play it, and play it well. It's something intrinsic to the game/sport: try as you might, you can't CONQUER it; but then again, neither can the otherwise outstanding athlete.
Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky were absolute greats in their sports, and top-flight athletes, but I bet there are a few broken down, scotch drinking, cigarette smoking 40 year olds on this site who could more than hold their own against them over 18 holes.
So, no, the game hasn't changed that much, IMHO.
Peter