The age old question of heredity vs. the environment. I vote mostly for the former, though the latter has large impact on how we look at the world.
Living organisms of all types seek to survive and multiply. Our wiring dictates that a rub of the green in our favor is perceived as either the result of good architecture that we recognized and took advantage of with proper execution, or as a well-deserved break/"what makes the game so enticing". Against us, it is poor design, bad maintenance, stupid course set-up, or an undue lucky break benefiting our opponent.
Typically, most of us have the reasonable expectation that our actions are more or less closely related to the results we get. The word "reasonable" is the key here, and, unfortunately for many, it is too conditional for their comfort. For example, if I hit a flop shot on a parkland golf course after some rain, it may not be unreasonable to expect that the ball may hit the fringe and stop (as it did to me on #15 at Providence GC at the DC). In many cases, that was the shot- just not under those conditions.
Another example is the current Occupy Movement where, reportedly, college graduates are protesting the lack of employment opportunities in light of the five and six figure debt they've incurred to acquire their education. Even in the best of times, is it "reasonable" to expect that a degree or academic concentration in transgender studies or the sociology of inter-city minority populations might not produce the type of employment income needed to pay for the essentials and retire their debt?
"Fairness" is among the most abused concepts or words in our culture. As someone else has noted, there is nothing fair in life. The best we can do is take things as they come and make the best of them. Preparation as well as how we view the world are key in how we do this. As with my play on #15, for the most part, we make our own luck. Before my ill-advised flop, I hit a timid approach based on an uncontrolable (to me) factor- that my opponent wouldn't be able to get out of trouble. My whining after seeing that my well executed flop plugged on the fringe was unreasonable as well as unproductive.
Someone much wiser than me noted that heredity determines potential- what something may become- while the environment influences what actually happens, what it becomes. In golf, playing with better players has typically elevated my game. And though we bitched and moaned incessantly in our gangsome about bad bets, unfair pin placements, and landing in divots at critical times, it generally followed that those who played best prevailed. Of course, we typically played scratch; handicap golf is another game all together and totally "learned".