In some cases, "authorities" make rules based on their own feelings. Generally, because they can get away with it. This promulgates fake information particularly on the internet because anecdotal events & information get repeated, without vetting, and are taken up as truth. This forum went round-and-round on CITES with so many "opinions" from those who couldn't be bothered to read CITES.
I'm going to pick on my friend:
He doesn't belong to a golf club. He never has. I don't know this, but I'll put money on it. So he's repeating what he's been told by somebody, or "conventional wisdom." He's generalizing, which is not applicable to all golf clubs. And dress code is determined also if you arrive in a Kia or an AMG Mercedes. And on and on.
I could have sworn there was a thread on collecting in National Parks and National Forests, but I could not find it. I wonder if one of the mods might split this off as a new topic, since the posted letter is priceless, and the discussion is smattered all over various threads.