Lou,
your buddy overpaying for a driver isn't evidence either.
Cost of equipment is only one small piece of the puzzle.
new tees, safety issues (whether real or not) have driven the cost as well.
Watching golf's organizational leaders(PGA, USGA) revamp and renovate every course slated for a competition is real evidence of costs being driven up ,and their example prompts other venues to follow their(misguided ) lead.
The suggestion was made that competitive golf was "breaking itself" as a result of advancing technology. I don't believe that this is the case and I simply asked Mr. Sims to support his comments. The fact that competitive golf is expanding globally with multiple tours for men and women, professionals and amateurs, would at least suggest that techonology is not "breaking" this segment of the game.
As to your assertion that "my buddy overpaying for a driver" not being "evidence either", he paid the market price and got great enjoyment from picking put 10-15 yards when he occasionally hit it flush and in the correct zip code. Given that graphite shafts are now the standard for drivers, his choice as an early adopter some 35 years ago appears to have been validated.
I've been playing golf fairly seriously since 1971 and there is no question that the real cost of the equipment available to most of us today is lower than it was 40 years ago AND the quality is far superior. BTW, this is also true of many tech goods like televisions, stereo equipment, computers, etc. I don't know what your definitions of "overpaying" or "evidence" are, but that's okay. You can dismiss my experience as anecdotal and irrelevant, but others who have been around awhile may look into their own and decide otherwise.
As to construction costs, renovations, redesigns, these have been the rule of the game since the first rocks were hit on the links. Reference the early literature and you find the same issues we discuss here with the passion of a college student who believes that he is the first to come upon a wold-changing undiscovered truth.
There are a number of factors beside technology driving these things including the common human desire for something bigger, newer, and better. In the U.S. at least, we are a much more litiguous, entitlement society which has to account for at least part of the alterations made to our courses. Environmental sensitivities and a plethora of regulations to impose these are another. As well is the fact that golf courses are living organisms which depreciate physically and require capital improvements. Advancements in science, equipment, chemicals, supplies, etc. contribute also (e.g. new irrigation systems to better control water; new green construction, specialized equipment, and grass strains to provide superior surfaces with lower costs and longer lives).
Golf, in my opinion, has much bigger fish to fry than trying to "roll back" equipment at this stage. Most people I know have the opposite problem- we can't hit the ball far or well enough. If the pros have outgrown their courses and adding distance is undesirable, the tours or tournament sponsors should consider a lower distance ball for their competitions. Me, I would recommend alternative strategies with course setup such as growing rough and firming up fairways and greens, and not being too concerned with par.
Concur on belly putters.