then hit three drives out of bounds on the second round

Yes, this one hurts the most! Because you feel so stupid afterward. Or you feel that you could do so much better. Such is life and this sport, my friend. (Come to think of it, in 2013 I lost club champs because I made a 10 on a par 5.)

become impossible for the mere mortals

Indeed. And then the field plays slower because you have 25+ handicaps trying to make their puts, and then they complain of slow speed. Agh, it is just a weird mixture of appearances they want to cast to the world (they get big sponsors every year). But at least we have fun!

The putting kills me

Right! And that's where you win the most strokes. Interesting, when we play golf we take our time on the greens and no one else really does. So many times we get called out for slow play because we take time and others don't. Golf is a funny sport! (And not to sound like that old fool always being negative but capitalism (i.e., making more money) is hurting this beautiful sport.)