Re: the wordless logo, here's the way I see it:
Say I meet someone somewhere by chance and he or she is wearing a shirt with what is clearly a golf course logo. If it looks interesting to me and there are no words to mark it, I'm almost definitely going to politely ask what logo it is, which will lead to at least a brief chat during which we discover a mutual love of the game. If there are words with the logo, the entré is obscured, that conversation never happens and neither of us is any the better for it.
If I'm the operator of a public facility like Tobacco Road, I want to at least give people the option of wearing a hat with just my logo, which I know is a distinctive one, because I trust it could be a conversation piece. On top of that, the "naked" logo look lends an air of exclusivity (without pretense, I'd argue) to the item, which increases perceived value.
If anything, I would put some distance between the logo and the words, if no one will budge on that. On a shirt, maybe put the club name on the sleeve and on a hat, put the club name on the back or side of the hat.