Lastly, Golf has NEVER been a blue collar game.
Horseshoes, darts, cards and bar shuffleboard are blue collar games.
This depends on one’s definition of "blue collar."
I do not know if the coal miners of Scotland 150 years ago were playing much golf. But we do know the caddies and the tradesmen were playing golf. These men had limited education and knew that they were of a different social set than the "Gentlemen of the R and A". The clubs these men belonged to would have been similar to our current Legion Halls.
Were the men of the 1950s and 1960s working on the lines at the auto factories or the breweries "blue collar"? I think any industrial union job would classify as 'blue collar". These men would not have thought of having a golf trip to Scotland, but they could afford to spend a bit extra for their recreation.
The American model rarely offers the affordable private golf club. When these do exist they more often are found in rural areas. But the UK model does offer affordable private clubs. In some instance the course is private, but will offer some outside play. In other instances the course is public, but there may be "clubs" with preferred times. And these clubs may span the price range from expensive to affordable.
But there is quite a bit of blue collar golf in the US, but under the US model it has been left almost exclusively to public golf courses.
I would not be surprised if the percentage of "white collar" workers playing golf may be higher than "blue collar". But the difference may not be as wide as one may suspect and the number of "blue collar" golfers is not insignificant.
Cog Hill was in the past (like Bethpage) a wonderful "blue collar" course. But with the Western Open came the high rates to #4. Remember, quite of bit of these "blue collar" golfers were likely caddies in their youth, and they know good golf courses.