Sean,
I hear your frustration but when the game started we had very few rules. There was no group of "rules guys" with any agenda--simply players wanting to have some sort of standard to play by. Especially with the rise of stroke play and the imperative to have everyone in those competitions (sometimes held over multiple courses over multiple days), play the same game, the rules expanded.
The rules are in fact written well. They may not be how people write today but great care is taken to make sure the book is grammatically correct. Also, please look at older Rule books from the 50's, 60's or even the 90's. The structure and organization are significantly improved. There is an order to the rules for sure.
IMO the biggest problem people have is that they need a ruling and start their search in the Decisions without ever having read the book in toto. An individual decision can seem unfair or silly when not read in the context of the entire set of Rules. It is kind of like people pulling out Bible passages that seem ridiculous because they are taken completely out of context. Or they pull out a verse thinking it means one thing when in fact it actually means quite the opposite ("an eye for an eye"...)
Another point to remember is that golf is not one game: there is stroke play and match play and the two are fundamentally different and the rules reflect that. Within Match Play you have Foursomes, Four-Balls, Three-Balls, Best Balls and Singles and for Stroke Play there are Foursomes, Four-balls, (Three balls in theory), Stablefords, Bogey and Par Competitions not to mention individual and team events--literally there are about a dozen unique games covered by the rules and two of them (Match and Stroke) are so fundamentally different that combining the two in any way is specifically prohibited by the Rules themselves.
I have know John (and David) for nearly twenty years and I, too, have tackled the problem of complexity in the Rules and have also come up with a variant on golf. My game(s) still differentiate between Matches and Stroke Play but my game is so simple that I actually allow for the possibility that if playing stroke play you may not be able to "finish" and post a score and thus I am encouraging the overwhelming amount of play to steer towards matches which is IMHO, the way the game was meant to be played anyway.
In my stroke play game:
1. Play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it.
2. If you ever wish to touch your ball for any reason, you can do so under penalty of one stroke and replace the ball within two club-lengths of where it originally lay. (Ball on cart path--play it or take a stroke. Ball on green with a hunk of mud on it--play it or it costs you a stroke to clean. Ball in impossible lie in bunker--one stroke and move it two club-lengths anywhere no nearer the hole.)
3. If you lose your ball for any reason or hit it out of bounds, you must estimate where the ball was lost and under penalty of two strokes place a ball anywhere on the course no nearer the hole than where your lost ball is estimated to be.
4. You must begin your round with a set number of golf balls as determined by the Committee though NEVER more than six (6). (E.G. a "professional event may have a three ball limit, or four or whatever.) If you run out of balls your round is over and your "score" is your total number of strokes through the last hole you were able to complete written like this: 75/16 This player had 75 strokes when he ran out of balls having completed 16 holes. He may have been hitting his 76th or 77th stroke somewhere on the 17th hole when he ran out of balls.
5. You "win" by completing all 18 holes and having the lowest score. If no one completes all 18 without running out of balls, whoever has the most holes completed in the fewest strokes wins. So, 75/16 beats 62/15. The emphasis is on "ball control" in this game.
No more stroke and distance penalties.
No more dropping--always place.
No "hand ball". Play your golf ball as it lies or take a penalty.
Emphasis on controlling your golf ball.
Many will prefer matches as this game is "tough". You may not finish all 18 holes with a traditional score.
Emphasis on hitting the ball versus putting.
Courses would need to play dry and firm since there is no more free relief for casual water or GUR. Players who can control their trajectory on wet days have a huge advantage.