Dare I ask a question??

[Ethan]

The premise, that the average handicap has not changed, is misleading. The population from whom the average was taken 50 years ago, and the population now, may not be comparable. Nowadays there are a lot more occasional golfers, and players who don't belong to a club, and probably drag the average. Also, the handicap system is rather different now. When I first joined, handicap reductions were all made by Secretary decision and could be a reduction of 3 or 4 shots at a time.

Apples and pears.

 

[viscount17]

Although there are many more golfers now, there are equally many more that don't belong to a club and hence don't have 'official' handicaps. This is, surely, the only source that could be used to derive the stats so most casual and many society golfers wouldn't figure at all.