Chipoat,
At the core, we can never forget that clubs are comprised of diverse factions in terms of the composition of the membership.
Some members want to host majors, others don't.
Some want to alter the course, others want it left intact.
Some want high rough, some want no rough.
Some want super fast greens, others want normal speeds.
As clubs age, they tend to move further away from their core values, even great old clubs like Merion, Winged Foot and other iconic clubs have experienced this seismic shift as a new breed of member joins and the older members with well established roots leave.
There's no monolithic theme to the exclusion of others.
I wonder, if no major tournaments had/will be held at Merion if any of the greens would have been altered.
Would the membership have been content with the greens as they were ?
Would the greens have attained the higher Stimp speeds ?
I recognize that clubs and memberships don't live in a vacuum.
They see and play other courses that have increased green speeds, they see and play other courses that have had their greens altered and their tees lengthened.
And, they watch the PGA tour and the courses played every week on TV.
I could be off base, but I think the Majors have a great deal of influence over the direction that Merion takes.
Ditto Baltusrol and others
Once you take the King's schilling, you have to do the King's bidding.
So, I understand your capitulation on some of the issues we've discussed.
You can only swim against the current for so long