I certainly do not want to offend anyone with what I am about to say, but I think it must be said. I have been playing for many years and have always had a decent understanding of the rules of golf. However, recently I have taken a much bigger interest in gaining a greater understanding of all the rules of golf and, therefore have been reading the rule book on a consistent basis.
With all this being said, it seems to me that the rules of golf are much more complicated than they need to be (particularlyl for non-tournament golf). Would it not make sense to standardize penalty strokes (e.g., make every infraction one-stroke) for example? Perhaps part of the complication is that solely knowing the rules is not enough to fully understand them as the interpretation of the rules is just as important.
I love the integrity aspect of golf and the character-building result of calling penalties on yourself. However, I think there would be much less unconscious violation of rules if they were easier to understand and interpret.
Am I way off base here?