Thanks for the fascinating information. I sometimes wonder if there is not a strong, direct correlation between the pedigree of the club and social graces. I was a member of a club for years full of ten cent millionaires where I wouldn't want my wife or young kids hanging around unaccompanied.
The calcutta is not dead, at least in Texas. Typically, if you have a low and a mid-level handicapper teamed together who can play to their handicaps in the heat, they can win some money.
There are people who organize and conduct the auction for a fee (from outside the club), and an assortment of gamblers (many private clubs in Texas seem to have no shortage of these) who handicap the teams and bid accordingly. It is not unusual to split the net auction proceeds by flight for day and tournament money. I enjoyed watching the smart money assessing who had been playing well, where the guests came from, and otherwise doing their due diligence.
A guy I know often made out with a few hundred in his pocket after entry fees, never buying his team outright, but taking the 25% option share that the purchaser of the team was required to offer to the team members. It would not be unusual for a gambler to own half dozen to 10 teams, and they prefered the teams to exercise their option so they have something more substantial riding on the outcome.