TEPaul,
I've thought about that. This right of possession.....ownership.
And, I think I see part of the problem.
First, we would have to agree that members come and go.
That the membership is mostly composed of transients during the life of the club and golf course. Renters, if you will.
Secondly, most club's charters mention little or nothing with respect to the golf course being inviolate, and I think that's were the problem arises, there is nothing in the by-laws to prevent alterations to the golf course.
Nothing that recognizes, via the written word, the one asset that is the centerpiece and/or cornerstone of the club and its membership, the golf course.
We all understand that certain changes take place without malice aforethought, fairway lines, green lines, bunker edges, those changes are almost accidental. But, other changes are the result of pro-active forces determined to alter architectural features inherent in the original design. These changes attack and alter the design integrity, and it is these changes that most need preventing, and restoring.
If you buy in to the above, the next question is, how do you prevent future disfigurements, and how do you correct previous disfigurements ?
I think there are three answers.
1. Put classic clubs in touch with the Architectural Society
that is directly related to them, as I recommended in
another thread. Try to form a joint-venture of sorts
between the two parties.
2. Praise, to the hilt, clubs that embark upon and complete
successful, sympathetic or true restorations.
Hold them up as a prime example of a club gone right.
3. Publically criticize, unmercifully, alterations to classic
courses. Criticize the memberships, the leaderships and
the club. Call them acts of vandalism, call the leadership
irresponsible, be feature specific. You may find that
corrections are made, and more importantly that people
think twice before altering a golf course.
Look at the results of public outcry with respect to
the road hole bunker at TOC.
Only when memberships and their leaders are held accountable to a broader standard than "works well"
will you be able to deter or eliminate the disfiguring of classic golf courses, and embark, more systemically on the restoration path.
JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET ALL OF THE FACTS RIGHT BEFORE INTITIATING ANY PLAN OF ACTION.
But, that's just my opinion.