I feel it is the total lack of understanding that they should go hand in hand. Teaching is just about playing the game, and zero regards architecture/design. Go into any club and start a discussion on design and you will have many looking at you as if you are talking a foreign language.
You will get comments ‘Of course the place was designed, just like the club house, but more effort has been put into the club house than the course'. It’s not their fault, they were never taught or advised about the design of Holes, Green or courses, so why would it be important.
It’s down to the individual to have a real interest in the game, of self-education or if lucky friends or family who have taken an interest in the past.
I would love to see kids grasping the basic concept and taking an interest in design, which I fell is very much linked to the history of the game, not just in Scotland but worldwide.
Alas we have still some ground to cover before enlightenment let alone teaching will be spread among the masses.
Melvyn