One bucket of money... members fighting over who has to put more in the bucket... an issue that is pointless to argue.
If your cart revenue is more than your cart expenses (lease, maintenance)... even if you put in EVERYTHING (e.g cart barn depreciation)... than the riders are subsidizing the walkers. This is the case in 99% of the clubs in America.
I have tried for years to get my Board to eliminate our cart fee and make all golf for all members free whether they walk or ride.
You take your cart revenue... divide by the number of members... raise the dues accordingly ($30 a month at my club). No restrictions... no rules. if your back is hurting you ride for free without financial penalty... if you play 9 holes and feel better... turn in the cart and walk the back nine. Unleash the pros stuck behind the counter administering cart fees and free them up to work the range or interact with the members. For those more financially oriented... lay off your assistant pro because the shop work has just been reduced to phone calls, guests and merchandise.
Only the most elite clubs can exist without golf carts. The entire industry needs to wake up and realize they are an operating expense... not a source of revenue.
I was under the impression that at many clubs, particularly those in the for-profit segment, cart operations are a profit center (revenues - costs including allocable overhead and depreciation = profit). To the extent that carts are seen primarily as an operating expense and their costs allocated to all members via dues, walking will be all but eliminated. I frequently walk courses where cart fees are included and I am the rare walker. On more than a couple occasions, the starters couldn't remember anyone except the school kids ever hoofing it. I am a big proponent of pay as you go- you want to ride or take a caddie, pay the real fee.
So which are you advocating here? Is it the "monthly price with no BS" or is it "pay for your own buggy"? That's two opposite things.
P.S. Referring to "collectivist ideology" sounds doofy even when the estimable Lou Duran does it. And you're no Lou Duran. Sounds like something you picked up from listening to Fox News.
"Doofy"? How geeky of you. The problem with many candy-assed Americans and Western Europeans is that they have had it so good for so long that they can't feel being gradually marinated to a boil.
Having experienced collectivism first hand, I wouldn't wish it on the reddest, most committed social justice activists. At the inevitable level of misery that it brings, little joy is derived from being "equals" in financial and spiritual destitution (if I am not mistaken, an equal % share of a number approaching zero ain't a hell of a lot). BTW, I do watch Fox News regularly, listen to Rush Limbaugh, and read the WSJ every day it is printed. Oh, and though not a "member", I sympathize with much of what the dreaded Tea Party stands for.
With regard to the other fellow who notes that he disagrees with my posts, thanks for the compliment. It reminds me of the time when a magazine editor told me that the problem with my ratings is that I like golf courses too much (meant as a dig, acknowledged and accepted as a compliment). Who was it that said we are known by the company we keep?
Despite my frequent participation, I have grown tired of this topic. It's not worth spending the time and energy debating the merits of walking vs. riding vs. pushing/pulling. I'm happy that my club gives me the choice, which means that I choose to walk abd carry. Some members choose to use pushcarts. Most choose to ride. So be it. It's not my place to encourage others how to play golf, just as I expect them to allow me to make my own choice.
That's the last word I have on this subject.
Quite right but so terribly uncommon today. The great philosopher Twain once spoke on the matter: “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. Fanatics will never learn that, though it be written in letters of gold across the sky.".