[BerntR]

This subject is brought up frequently, and I think: Golf has been played for hundreds of years. Why should the average handicap suddenly start to drop? Because we are a lot more talented than our forefathers? Because we put more time and devotion into the game?

Golf has become a mass sport. I would think many who play golf today are infrequent flyers who also do a lot of other things and never really put in the time to learn the game.

So I'll actually take it as a sign of progress if the average handicap hasn't gone up actually.

How many scratch and plus handicappers are there today compared to 50 years ago?