Jim - Ah, I see better now what you're suggesting. Interesting analogy, but here's the rub: Yes, I would much rather have seen Benny Goodman at the Congress Hotel in Chicago or at the Madhattan Room in the Hotel Pennsylvania rather than in a bland and cavernous gymnasium...but I (apparently) would've been in the minority. According to some of his sideman who were there during the height of the swing craze, most of the fans came out to hear not Benny's sheer mastery of the instrument but Gene Krupa's maniac drumming and Harry James' acrobatic trumpeting; I think side-man Jimmy Maxwell said it was something like 10% of the audience who he thought had actually come out to actually hear the music as oppossed to participating in the event. Now, I'm not saying the analogy holds all that well -- but while I may be under-estimating how watching great golf on great (private) golf course might inpsire the general public, I think you may be over-estimating how much of that general public wants to appreciate the great course rather than simply watch a grand spectacle.
Peter
Just saw your last post, Jimmy - I didn't think it was blunt at all (except in the best way, the JES way) -- and yes, it is easy to lay blame on the private course.