Let’s look at it from another direction, say Baseball
Let’s take the game and change it because I am just bloody lazy. So instead of running between the four sectors let’s ride on rails. We have the technology let’s redesign the grounds.
Let’s make the Stadium bigger because we want to let the ball and club develop and distance is important. The riding on rails will aid us as it will open out the inner field.
That’s just two potential changes, golf has suffered much more over the years, but I feel these two points relate to the major changes for the worst in golf, that of not walking and desire for long drives to make some feel manly.
Would you accept this in baseball, well only you can answer that but I suspect that many will say piss off, leave the game alone, it works well as it is.
That my friend is my point, the game of golf is better for walking, for working out distances unaided, and deciding the shot and direction within one’s own mind while working out how to navigate the course. The traditional course etiquette requests that I consider others clearly something that does not seem to matter to many.
Call your game whatever you want, but it’s not golf unless you walk. You do not even have the committed to walk but are happy for carts and their tracks to, at times compromise the design process just so people can ride.
History dictates the game is walking, backed up by our Major Tournaments requiring the players to walk. The game for some 600 years was walking but along comes a few who decide that’s not how they want to play golf.
As for Scotland’s Climate, so what – I have played in the Tropics in Africa India and a few other places, so fully understand heat & humidity, but I never ran away and looked for the easy way out to ride because I just could not take the strain of walking in such conditions. Wake up and thing how the game was played right up to the 1980 and later in many parts of the world. Cart are new, and still have not penetrated some countries let alone their golf courses, golfer there walk, yes in all that heat and humidity.
Carts are not good for Man or Golf; they are expensive, destructive and force limitations on parts of the design, just so an uncommitted lazy sod can ride and say he has played a round.
You guys do as you wish, but you in the end will have let, first yourselves down then your health and of course Golf, but then the latter is not that important to you otherwise you would not ride.
You may play a game based upon golf but you are not GOLFERS.
Enjoy your ride in the country guys
Melvyn