In the 80's we did not have to travel 5 hours to play a "good" course and "get away from it all".
That reminds me of an 80s thing.
You had this telephone, see, and it was connected to your house.
If someone rang you and no one picked up, it meant you were not at home. Maybe you were out golfing.
Then if they left a message, when you got home you could call them back.
You'd say something like: "You want to grab a couple of drinks tonight? Okay, meet you at Jimmy's at 10. If I'm not there I'll be at the other place". And then at 10 or thereabouts you'd meet and have some drinks.
Or you might say: "You want to play Lakeside tomorrow, 11 am? Anyone else you thinking? No - okay, I'll book us in". And then, with nary another telephone call or a message, you'd meet your friend on the tee at 11 and play golf. Or, if for some reason he didn't show, you wouldn't.
And because we don't have home telephones anymore, that is the reason we have Bandon, and Dismal. I think golfing wise the trade off is probably worth it. Lifestyle wise, not so much.
Peter