1. I am highly sceptical anytime a CEO of an equipment firm calls for changes in the rules for golf or equipment. They have a clear interest in profits, the people involved in administering golf have a clear interest in ... well, the game. I am even more sceptical when the CEO of the company with the shortest product cycles does so. Starting twenty years ago manufacturers built a new business model based on higher pricing and more rapid replacement of equipment. That coincided with real advancements in technology that help the average golfer - perimeter weighted irons and titanium woods. Twenty years later stagnant technology, growing awareness by consumers that they do not need new equipment every year and economic realities that force manufacturers to cut into their profit margins are undermining that business model. The new realities do not mean the game of golf is adversely impacted, just equipment companies.
2. He tries to make a correlation between growth in the game and difficulty. How is that situation different now than it has been for all of golf's history. It has always been a difficult game, that is what attracts most of us. Those who are looking for some type of easy walk in the park will never be attracted to golf.
3. Growth of the game is a mantra that has a visceral attraction but little substance. All sports, indeed all human undertakings, have ebbs and flows. We are unquestionably in a low (no) growth phase, 10 - 15 years ago we were in a growth phase. Some time in the future we will grow again. How does "growing the game" help the individual golfer? Other than filling tee sheets it doesn't. If the numbers of golfers increases or decreases by 5% it doesn't impact any of us one bit.
Real estate developers and others built a glut of golf courses for which there was never a demand and with the economic downturn, that house of cards is now tumbling. The industry needed a correction and is getting it. As golfers we need to focus on what we want from the game, how its health is best maintained and how to best pass it on to the next generations. That is not done by listening to the calls of those whose interests lie in the bottom lines of their companies, not in the game of golf itself.
Golfers (which is not the same as the golf industry) need to realize their game is not under attack, will not disappear and has proven resilient over many economic cycles. The golf industry, however, is in trouble. Should we follow those in the industry who are trying to save themselves or should we support the game we love? I know which way I vote.