Garland,
Sorry but the 10 good shots is a fact, or at least a surveyed result from somewhere. Again, based on my experience, when given the option, no one is happy to hit multiple shots that mean mostly nothing. I believe your statement about people being happy about hitting multiple shots is mostly an unfounded opinion, but would be willing to look at any surveys you have supporting it.
As you can tell, I am pretty jazzed about shorter tees, and my point was really that people who sound like you sound arrogant to women golfers, which I think is a big problem.
I once heard a pro tell a woman that 5200 yards is "good enough" for her, leading to another of my comments. After hearing that, I started listening for other signs of real bias against female golfers, and heard it all the time. What business tells 7-20% of its clients that they should settle for "good enough?"
We can argue whether multiple tees alone are enough to save golf, and they probably aren't, but asking seniors and women to play the equivalent of 8500 yard courses for pros is not going to help either.
As to the contraction of golf, well, it seems to me that multiple tees started with RTJ in the 1950's (by that I mean really separating the yardages) and continued until most of the 1990's courses had at least five tees, with the long ones and Pete Dye courses (thanks to Alice) having six. And, golf flourished until the economic nose dive of 2006. I don't see a time correlation between multiple tees and declining play. If anything, it may have helped the increased play rates up until the crash, albeit, offset by somewhat tougher courses overall.
To another point, I agree there is potential for different groups, using different tees might be a little less social, but am not sure I can pinpoint it. For example, as long as I have been golfing, mixed groups of males and females have played different tees. When I play with my son, we play two different tees. I have seen it where three want to play white and one play blues, so one feels forced to move up or back depending on group dynamic. So, I don't know of any stats on how that happens or breaks up some golf groups, but its not been my personal experience and I am not sure how much weight to give that argument.
If looking at a few forward tees between you and your target is one of your big problems in life, then a charmed life it is. Like everything else in polite society (granted, not always so polite anymore) you have to give a little for the benefit of others sharing your space, at least IMHO.
In any event, hate to be cross with you, but based on all I have seen (which is certainly not everything) multiple tees along the lines of what Thomas Dai shows, designed around the true distances of golfers (albeit, averaged and rounded) in another thread rather than has more promise for fun golf than minimizing tees in favor of one traditionally dominant golf group.
Maybe I am just a weird duck?