When you get right down to it, Noel, I think the better way of explaining this issue is that links golf at its best is a cerebral experience, in a way that parkland golf at its best isn't. Only certain types of golfers are going to enjoy/experience links golf to the point where they fully "get it", simply because the majority of golfers (from all countries) either aren't cerebral enough to make the necessary conclusions or won't wish to waste the ol' gray matter during their own leisure time. The same conclusion can be drawn, of course, about other leisure activities - sangria and shagging are activities which can be enjoyed by everyone, whereas chess and poetry reading really aren't. I hope I'm not being judgmental; I don't think there's anything wrong per se with people who wish to turn their brains mostly off during their downtime. But that is a rather tall mountain to scale when you're trying to explain the glories of links golf to, say, the average US television viewer...
There is another category of golfer, of course: the Brit who grows up playing links golf and comes to prefer links golf because parkland golf is an alien concept. For the golfer growing up and living in a small village or town in coastal Britain or Ireland, the wide world of target golf and overwatered greens may never become a reality. But then, I believe it's infinitely easier to "get" parkland golf when you come from a links background than to "get" links golf when you come from a parkland background, simply because there's much less about target golf to "get". And from personal experience, I can't help but be appalled in one sense by every friend I have at Machrihanish who has gone to Spain/Portugal on holiday, played golf there and said that they loved the type of golf on offer, without any qualifications. I want to grab them by the shoulders, shake them and yell, "You belong to Machrihanish! This is just about as good as golf gets! It's a hell of a lot better than ANYTHING in Spain or Portugal!"
Cheers,
Darren