In 2019, many Golden Age golf clubs are inching toward a centenary celebration. Many pre-Golden Age clubs have already passed that. Which of these have the gravitas to reach 200 years?
In the UK, a golf club with 200-year longevity is not a completely foreign idea. I suspect that even if the game declines and becomes extinct worldwide, TOC will be the last bastion just as it was the first root.
But in America things have been different. It's a younger nation. Is the game more "artificially sustained" in America -- less "holistic"? Will this affect the longevity of clubs? Which clubs will survive?
What will Merion look like in 2096? CPC in 2128? Does the overall state of the nation during the next century rule the state of the game? Or are the bastions of golf "insulated" enough to maintain their own history?
What about great golf courses that aren't clubs? Pebble Beach will be around in 2029. What about 2129? Will the coastline be eaten up? Can the Pebble Beach Company afford to maintain it? How about a place like Pinehurst reaching the 200-year mark? The Greenbrier/Old White?
Give us some thoughts on these many subjects/scenarios. Except for the unusual Pebble/Pinehurst, etc., I'm talking about CLUBS surviving. Many old clubs (Shinnecock for example) are presently playing on new(er) digs. That's legal for purposes of my questions.... imagine if LACC had to relocate down the road because the world's most expensive real estate was just too valuable.
Let's have a go at this subject -- tell us what the American game will look like. Your answer might even be the apocalyptic view that NONE of the clubs will survive. If so, tell us what the hypothetical endgame would be.