But it doesn't mean they aren't, right? Or that they aren't well read, or thoughtful.
I think my point is that the type of player who can maintain a <5 handicap is a different type of person in general, than your average golfers. The amount of effort required to maintain such a low handicap is probably indicative of a different type of player who probably prefers a different type of course.
In the lecture on games I sited earlier:
21:30:
Often with low luck games players who have invested different amounts of time will have trouble playing together.
So, I've given here three reasons why you might consider bumping up the luck in your game. To increase variety, to make it so that you can play with a broader range of players, and because it might protect your players egos. There is an argument that perhaps luck should be reduced over time, because as you become a more mature game player, you need that crutch for your ego less, as players become more educated there will be more people of an appropriate skill level, but you should keep in mind that as you reduce this luck you might have trouble expanding your audience because your new players might have a hard time jumping into the game
I think this is well-applicable to golf courses. A forgiving course or courses that punish players more randomly than others, will likely appeal more to higher handicappers than lower handicappers. That isn't to say that higher handicappers can't be well read and take this sort of thing into account, it's just to say that when making the proxy for caring about golf tied to handicap, we should find ourselves with skewed results for high-effort players' preferences.
That is, the type of person who grinds at the range after a weekend round probably has a much different opinion about what makes a good course good than the person who is entirely pleased with being 15 over par. The types of challenges they both enjoy will probably look very different.
It is why I don't like the challenges Bethpage offers. Take the 5th hole. It requires a 180 yard carry, over a massive bunker, just to
reach the fairway, but if you take this cautious line but flush it, you're in the rough with no chance at the green. There's just no safe tee shot at all. Supposing a perfect 230 yard shot (again, from the white tees), you need to hit a 195 yard shot to the green, over a massive greenside bunker, to a green completely surrounded by bunkers. You got to just laugh at that point, because the type of investment in skill one need to enjoy that type of challenge is not one I'm willing to invest in my recreational game. You can say it's a half par hole for lower skill players, but again, you still have to accurately carry it 180 yard!