John,
"It appears you have a fair point there Alfie - your argument being that the increased length of the average drive has obsoleted Scotland’s shorter 18-Holers and 9-Holers - and the Golfing powers are doing nothing about it."
Mostly right, but not the main point I was making. The Scotsman made a big deal of this series of articles and headlined them - The State of Scottish Golf ! At the start of the week, I e-mailed The Scotsman's sports editor and commended them for allocating so much space to the issue while also urging them NOT TO FORGET the relevance of technology advances in the whole equation. As it transpired, the Scotsman exercise said absolutely nothing about grass roots golf in Scotland (IMO). Mostly because they didn't have the guts to examine technology !
John ; "However can you back this up with statistics about clubs going obsolete and not just statistics about the length of the drive?"
Give me about ten years down the line and maybe I could reluctantly supply the stats ? I tend not to overplay the obsolete word, although trends and fashions and distance did prove lethal to several clubs from, say, the 1920's and leading up to WW11. From a Scottish perspective, the facts are there ; clubs are struggling to maintain membership numbers and if this trend continues, there are definitely going to be casualties ! I believe that clubs & courses are presently crumbling in the States but I don't why exactly it's happening there ? One connection that can be made between the States and the UK, is that we have the longest established clubs and courses !
Emerging countries are less affected by distance (at the moment) because they have newer courses built to newer distance values.
John ; "What about the fact that in the last 25 years Scotland has risen from 450 Golf Courses to 550 Golf courses."
If you look at this upsurge in courses I think that you'll find that most of these are in the tourism / exclusive bracket. Little, if anything, in connection with the game at grass roots level. I think I'd be right in saying that they've been specifically designed for the incoming visitor which I have absolutely no gripe with. Golf tourism is essential to Scotland's economy.
John ; "Just some thoughts and I don’t pretend to know any of the answers - unless you want to talk about “quad-furcation”
Good one John and believe it or not - a valid point ! How many bifurcations presently exist within the sport ? Ladies v gents v juniors / the Am game v the Pro game / the impliments the pro's use and the ones we use ?
As I see it, at least America is talking about technology in golf. It's always swept under the carpet in the UK ?
The Scotsman simply brushed Scottish club golf under the same carpet last week while trying to flog a few more copies of an ailing newspaper on the strengths and weaknesses of our "elite" players.
Alfie