Kyle:
I certainly hope you don't have to worry about the moderators of this website taking this thread off. While it isn't exactly about golf course architecture, so what? It is about something pretty interesting to golf and its culture in the over-all. If the moderators or the contributors to this site can't handle that I think this website will become unnecessarlily restricting---not a good thing.
You said:
"Where my problem lies is in the immediate acceptance of these standards and the seeming lack of understanding of the potential or already occurring circumstances of such a standard.
The point that I think is being missed here is that the country club, our attire and playing golf are 3 mutually exclusive things. I think we are all in agreement that we play and enjoy the game for reasons other than membership at a privileged club or dressing in a certain well-groomed manner. This is the first point that must be acknowledged in order to follow my line of thinking."
In that case I'm not going to continue to follow your line of thinking because I'm not willing to acknowledge the mutual exclusivity of those three things.
I'm still not that certain why you have a problem with the acceptance of a standard such as a dress code at some clubs or what your problem is with the potential or already occuring circumstances of such a standard.
On the other hand, you seem to give some evidence in the next paragraph of what you think the problems are---eg that the "country club", "our attire" and "playing golf" are three mutually exclusive things.
I would suggest that is not necessarily the case at all, particularly in some clubs. In some clubs the idea is something like the extended family concept and those who belong seem to feel some comfort in that fact.
Perhaps it all goes back to the fact that man is something of a tribal animal---that he feels somewhat safe in the community of those he feels think and act like him and that that idea gives him comfort that he's protected in some way from others who he feels don't think at all as he does.
I think I understand where you're coming from but you may need to consider more carefully that golf, like life, is a great big thing and there really is room in it for a whole lot of diversity.
Only problem is that diversity may never exist in the same place or in all places at the same time.
It's all part of the "Big World" theory, I guess.
I think you've made your point but you probably need to recognize that not everyone will agree with it.