"I liked the article because it could be written about my home course. I like the golf course and never get tired of it, and when I shoot a good number I feel like I've really done something. But if I had been forced to learn to play the game there, I'm not sure I'd still be playing golf at all; it is just HARD, and in some cases needlessly so, with GCA features that punish lesser golfers excessively. And I play fast and I'm all the way up to the 6500 yd. tees now."
It shouldn't surprise me, but mine was the opposite experience. I fell in love with golf on an extremely difficult course, OSU's Scarlet. It took me from being a novice with a fundamentally flawed swing to a decent low single-digit golfer in two or three years.
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value." Thomas Paine
http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/singlehtml.htmI don't know where most here play golf, but there are a bunch of courses in north Texas that can be played at a variety of lengths and are quite easy. Sure, if you want to play the back tees and keep score according to the rules, it can be very hard. But who does?
Slow play is definitely a problem. But so can impatient, narcissistic types who want to race around a course which is being shared with others who may not be in such a hurry. Golf is a big world, perhaps we all need to be better citizens.
Cost doesn't appear to be a factor in most markets. On an inflation adjusted basis, I suspect that golf is considerably cheaper today in all but the most regulated markets (i.e. urban areas where "spread the wealth" policies dominate) than it was 30 years ago. There are incredible deals on memberships, player's club programs, and balls and equipment (where a $300 driver can be purchased in a couple short seasons following introduction for less than $100).
I actually tend to agree with some of what Kostis said earlier (Geoff's piece). The world is changing. American society since the 1960s is vastly different. Things come much easier. Our kids have mobile phones, computers, and all sorts of stuff that I couldn't have dreamt of not to say being able to afford them. There many more alternatives to occupy our time. We are becoming more sedentary, more accustomed to watching and, perhaps, participating less actively (punching keys as opposed to knocking a ball).
What does this all mean for golf? I think that it will become more of a niche sport, but it will never die. The owner/operator may even make a big comeback. Few of us not trying to make a living in the sport have much to worry about. There will be ample opportunities to pursue the game. And a few of those clubs which historically were not accessible, their doors might open up for even folks like me. Who figured! In a country where not an insignificant portion of the population is singularly concerned with how much more their neighbor has, golf is becoming more proletariat, more democratic!