I don't see any complete solution to this. Each player has to find a game challenge that suits them, and during tournaments to pick a personal round score, or the score of a similarly skilled player to try to beat, and try not to worry too much what settings/exploits others may be using.
A few weeks back, while exploring a non-standard device for PG, I stumbled on a setup that emulates the RTS-M swing. I found I could eliminate all swing plane / heel-toe variables and reduce the 1:4 swing tempo to a simple 1:1. And I can confirm, as Ted and others have said here, removing the driving/approach challenge reduces the game to a pitch-and-putt exercise at best (this device even emulated the pitch/sand-shot/chip swings at a comfortable slow motion).
Would anyone bother using such a set-up? Not for long. Hollow victories and all that. I sent Mike a pm about this exploit out of curiosity and never heard back, so while the devs are happy to flag up courtesy messages, I suspect they don't want to get involved in policing all the different devices and potential exploits. After all, in theory someone could build a robot arm programmed to produce perfectly imperfect swings (to outwit a perfect-swing detector) time after time while employing some AI algorithm to get approach shots so close to the pin that even the realistic green settings would be neutered. Wow, just think, you could set the program in motion and then come back in twenty minutes to admire your 20-under-par scorecard!
That said, I'd hate for someone who, through skill and practice, regularly tops the leaderboards to fall under suspicion of taking unfair advantage. Is it fair to tweak DPI/Windows/in-game settings to achieve a swing you're comfortable with? Yes. Is it fair to turn off mouse acceleration so you can control tempo more easily? Yes. Is it fair to dial out X axis variability (or Y for horizontal swings) in mouse or controller swings? No. Is it fair to use a mouse or controller with built-in dead-zone/angle-snapping forgiveness? Probably. But beyond that you'd go nuts trying to decide what is and what isn't within the spirit of the game and then to police it.
Ultimately it's down us to set our own challenging targets and then have fun trying to achieve them. After all, we're playing for pride, not money, and you can't be truly proud of your achievements unless you play with integrity.
