George...that was funny!! Probably not true, but funny! But seriously, I go out as a single a lot and getting teamed up with random strangers on a golf course is generally fun and I have yet to not meet classy people. This is part of why I like the game. So, I think you make a great point there.
Jim S...I certainly can't say where Adam stands on the score issue, but of course it is important as that is the point of the game. I've just seen too many people all consumed by it...good score=fun round; bad score=unhappy round...I hope I never get there. Now, I try my best and I get disappointed with a bad shot (or a bad round), but try to not let it ruin the game for me.
JMEvensky...isn't Tom W's story exactly what you describe as an event that Heaven needs to help us on? He is a life long golfer, with a successful competitive history in the game and now he doesn't like it much anymore.
But that is understandable...in fact, I've heard Arnold Palmer talk about golf not being much fun anymore due to his "poor play". For me, I can't watch boxing, MMA, or anything like that anymore as I used to do things like that and be "good" at them and now I can't pick my leg up to do a basic kick. It makes me sad to think about. Maybe that is what is bumming Tom and Arnold out relative to golf.
But frankly, it is precisely the basic characteristics of the game of golf that makes me able to enjoy it while not having all of my natural athletic abilitiies in tact anymore. So, I can't run 6 minutes miles anymore. I can't execute a spinning round house kick, I can't squat 300 plus pounds anymore...but I can play golf.
Anyway, if people want to quit...that is fine. As long as they "want" to quit. I've played in pain, with mega-painkillers in my system, but never pain free. Why? Because I WANTED to play!!! That is all. If I didn't have the desire or I found it not worth the effort, I wouldn't play.
If people don't want to play, fine. What is wrong with that?