I have a hunch that the "stated goals" of the rollback do not reflect their most ardent concerns about distance. IMO, this is indeed about "preserving" the relevance of a handful of historic courses, and possibly also a reflection of the opinions of certain people on how the modern game looks (long drives, wedges, etc.) compared to the game they played in their heyday. Not to say there aren't other reasons they sincerely embrace as well...and I'm not saying the other reasons (water, land, etc.) aren't valid. But the most important things to them are appearance and history, IMO.