"But it is often these small things that make the biggest impression, especially at the margins."

I must say the 74 comments (at blog posting time) on the Jerry Tarde editorial calling for loosening of cell phone rules made for great reading. Thanks for all of the great remarks. I'm sure Jerry was tickled at all of the kind remarks about his stance and the state of Golf Digest. (Note to self: don't send Jerry that email with story idea for a while.)

Lawrence Donegan noted the story on his Guardian blog and echoed the comments many of you made and put the issue into the context of golf club's current problems:

Golf clubs are in trouble. Why are they losing members? Obviously, the economy is the main problem but they don't help themselves with their insistence on maintaining petty restrictions that exist, it seems to me, only for the benefit of those who take pleasure in, well, maintaining petty restrictions. This is not an original point, and it might be a small one. But it is often these small things that make the biggest impression, especially at the margins.

And...

On a grander philosophical level (a speciality of the Guardian golf blog, as regular readers will know), it would be better if golf clubs - and Golf Digest - focused their attention on those things that harm the game far more than any jeans-wearing, car park shoe-changing, hat-wearing reprobate ever could - extortionate joining fees (especially in the States), insidious bigotry (or every shape and form) and slow play.