I remember you from my time at Doc's Place. The game is certainly different from the good ol' days of Flash and us old dinosaurs long for those days; however, I don't feel the game is any more difficult now. I have a couple of suggestions to pass along and kindly regard them as my 2 centavos...
1. To me, this is nothing more than a hobby and as a hobby there are costs whether it is upgrading equipment or balls if one's goal is to be the best they can be (or play). Then there is the investment of time to reach one's goals. On the other hand, one can simply enjoy meeting and playing with others without stressing over winning.
2. I would suggest friending Scott (looselugnutz) and start a conversation with him about your feelings. Doc's Place is one of the better WGT clubs so you might want to get more involved with the club's tournaments / members / forum / Discord. Doing so might just open up a whole new experience for you.
Bottom line is, if you are not enjoying the game, then it makes little sense (to me) to keep playing. It will be not only a waste of your time, but of your money as well. Maybe check out PGA 23 on Steam. Many former WGT players have moved over to that platform.
Good luck with your decision. Hopefully others will chime in.
...henry (aka Zzyzx01)