Actually Bob, I didn't say that any course paid them dues. My allusion of "that they expected every golf course in the world to pay them dues and that they would be the arbiter of the rules of the game, what will be allowed equipment-wise and all else that is good and holy..." was tongue-in-cheek, as was my entire post.
The USGA, the R&A & the PGA of America are all organizations that have grown overly large by a combination of the game's evolution, necessity and with a fair helping of greed thrown in. The reality is that nothing can possibly replace them, and that was my point. They are under a constant barrage by all who demand a measure of perfection from them. It is very easy to criticize a mistake as it always happens in hindsight.
Each of these organizations work very hard to get it right and do it right, yet inevuitably they will have failures that get overly criticized in the same way that their accomplishments are overly praised.
I would love to ask anyone how to go about establishing a new organization that everyone could work with, would work fairly toward all and serve as a true protector of the game. Then show me how it could actually come about. A brilliant writer I know once wrote that "Logistics are the assasins of ideas." These organizations prove the truth of this.
By the way, I could be mistaken, but isn't there a membership fee that courses in the USA pay to be members of the USGA or PGA of America?