Question

Marketing a golf course

Jane’s year-long industrial placement was with a company that developed and managed golf

courses. The company was concerned that over the last two years the number of golfers using

its courses was declining, despite an overall growth in popularity of the sport. The company

had undertaken a survey of users of its courses to establish who used them and reasons for this

decline in usage. The data from the responses to the survey had been entered into a spreadsheet,

and Jane had been asked to analyze it and write a report based on her analysis.

Looking at the data, Jane wondered whether she would be able to write a report that could

establish why the numbers using the company’s golf courses were declining despite an overall

growth in popularity of the sport.

A copy of a completed questionnaire is shown below:

Customer Questionnaire

22 September

Dear Customer,

We are always seeking ways to improve our courses for our customers. Please help us to do so by taking a few minutes to complete this form and tell us what you think. Completed questionnaires returned by 29 September will be entered in a free prize draw for a year’s membership for one of our courses.

Please return your completed questionnaire by placing it in the box in the club house entrance.

Please fill in the following details:

Name:                         Mr. Geoffrey Thomas

Address:                      29 St Aidans Drive,

Huntsville, READING

Postcode:                     RG3 3BG

1   Are you male?   ? 1          female?        2

2 Which age group do you fall into?

Under 18       1)19–25        2 )26–30         3) 31–35

4)36–40       ? 5 ) 41–45        6 ) 46–50        7 ) 51–55   

8)) 56–60            9) 61–65        10)66–70        11) 0ver 71   

3   Which Green Golf Group golf course do you use most regularly?

Bircheley   ? 1          Greenacres      2         The Oaks ?   3          Sandy Lane       4

4 Do you use any of these other golf courses?

The Common     1     Lochgreen ? 2         Fullerton ?   3          Other ?   4

5 In what band is your current golf handicap?

1–6        1        7–12        2      13–18       3    25–30 ? 4    30–36        5

6 Which category of user best describes you?

Full member ? 1       Casual user        2        Occasional visitor       3

7 How frequently do you play golf?

1–3 rounds per week   1    1                1–4 rounds per month ? 3

4–7 rounds per week       2                Occasionally    4Rarely        5

8 Please rate the quality of the following elements of the golf course you use most regularly:

Very good                    Good               Fair                 Poor                Very poor

Greens                                                                         ?

Tees                                                                             ?

Bunkers                                                 ?

Fairways                                                                     ?                    ?                  

Semi-rough                                           ?

Rough                                                                         ?

Locker room                                                               ?

Clubhouse and catering                                                                      ?

Golf marshalling                                                         ?

Booking procedures                                                    ?

9 How would you rate the overall quality and value for money of our golf courses?

Poor                1            2        ?   3       4        5         6      Excellent

10 Please add any other general comments . . . The Car Park at The Oaks gets very muddy.

It could do with being resurfaced.

Thank you for spending time telling us your views.

Please place your completed questionnaire in the box in the clubhouse entrance

Questions

1 . What problems of questionnaire design are likely to have contributed to Jane’s concern

about her ability to answer the questions the Green Golf Group wished to have answered?

2. How might problems of individual question’s design be overcome? Use a table to respond to this question with column headings question, problem, solution

3. Which questions are likely to be most useful to Jane in writing a report about the

relative qualities of the Green Golf Group’s courses?

4. For each of these questions or groups of questions, list the tables, diagrams or statistical

approaches you would advise Jane to use in her analysis. Use a table to respond to this question with column headings question, diagram/statistic, to help find out

Answer 1

1 . What problems of questionnaire design are likely to have contributed to Jane’s concern about her ability to answer the questions the Green Golf Group wished to have answered?

Answer:   The problems in the questionnaire is that it actually doesn’t answer their real problem which is that the number of golfers using its courses was declining, despite an overall growth in the popularity of the sport. The questionnaire has been designed in a thoughtful way that it caters to general concerns. There could have been a few more questions or questions could have been replaced by questions like:-

• How likely are you to refer Green Golf Group to your friends and family?
• What suggestions would you like to put forward to the management that would help us serve you better?

2. How might problems of individual question’s design be overcome? Use a table to respond to this question with column headings question, problem, solution.

Answer:  

Sl.No.	Questions	Problem	Solution
1	Are you male?   1          female?        2	NA	Gender diversity is a good thing
2	Which age group do you fall into? Under 18       1)19–25        2 )26–30         3) 31–35 4)36–40       ? 5 ) 41–45        6 ) 46–50        7 ) 51–55    8)) 56–60            9) 61–65        10)66–70        11) 0ver 71	There are too many categories of the age group.	The age groups could be divided as follows:- Under 18 19-30 30-45 45-60 61 and Above
3	Which Green Golf Group golf course do you use most regularly? Bircheley   ? 1          Greenacres      2         The Oaks ?   3          Sandy Lane       4	This question is important to see which golf course is more popular than the others	There could be 5th option saying others and a ‘______’ for people who use any other golf course.
4	Do you use any of these other golf courses? The Common     1     Lochgreen ? 2         Fullerton ?   3          Other ?   4	This question is unnecessarily extended from the previous question.	There could be 5th option in the above question itself.
5	In what band is your current golf handicap? 1–6        1        7–12        2      13–18       3    25–30 ? 4    30–36        5	This is a good question but it does not contribute to the answer as to why the number of golfers is reducing inspite of the increasing popularity of the sport.	The question could have been replaced with: ‘How likely are you to refer Green Golf Group to your friends and family?’
6	Which category of user best describes you? Full member ? 1       Casual user        2        Occasional visitor       3	This question answers the actual concern, hence a good question.	NA
7	How frequently do you play golf? 1–3 rounds per week   1    1                1–4 rounds per month ? 3 4–7 rounds per week       2                Occasionally    4Rarely        5	The options framing could have been better.	It could have been:- How frequently do you play golf? Very Rarely 0-5 times a month 1-3 times a week 4-7 times a week
8	Please rate the quality of the following elements of the golf course you use most regularly: Very good                    Good               Fair                 Poor                Very poor Greens                                                                         ? Tees                                                                             ? Bunkers                                                 ? Fairways                                                                     ?                    ?                   Semi-rough                                           ? Rough                                                                         ? Locker room                                                               ? Clubhouse and catering                                                                      ? Golf marshalling                                                         ? Booking procedures                                                    ?	This question answers the actual concern, hence a good question.	NA
9	How would you rate the overall quality and value for money of our golf courses? Poor                1            2        ?   3       4        5         6      Excellent	This question answers the actual concern, hence a good question.	NA
10	Please add any other general comments	People would generally leave this blank.	Instead of comments, they could ask for suggestions.

3. Which questions are likely to be most useful to Jane in writing a report about the relative qualities of the Green Golf Group’s courses?

Answer:   With the current questionnaire, the questions most useful would have been question no.- 1,2,3,6,8,9.

4. For each of these questions or groups of questions, list the tables, diagrams or statistical

approaches you would advise Jane to use in her analysis. Use a table to respond to this question with column headings question, diagram/statistic, to help find out.

Sl.No.	Questions	Diagram/Statistic
1	Are you male?   1          female?        2	Pie Chart
2	Which age group do you fall into? Under 18       1)19–25        2 )26–30         3) 31–35 4)36–40       ? 5 ) 41–45        6 ) 46–50        7 ) 51–55    8)) 56–60            9) 61–65        10)66–70        11) 0ver 71	Column Chart
3	Which Green Golf Group golf course do you use most regularly? Bircheley   ? 1          Greenacres      2         The Oaks ?   3          Sandy Lane       4	Bar chart
4	Do you use any of these other golf courses? The Common     1     Lochgreen ? 2         Fullerton ?   3          Other ?   4	Bar chart
5	In what band is your current golf handicap? 1–6        1        7–12        2      13–18       3    25–30 ? 4    30–36        5	Column Chart
6	Which category of user best describes you? Full member ? 1       Casual user        2        Occasional visitor       3	Pie chart
7	How frequently do you play golf? 1–3 rounds per week   1    1                1–4 rounds per month ? 3 4–7 rounds per week       2                Occasionally    4Rarely        5	Bar chart
8	Please rate the quality of the following elements of the golf course you use most regularly: Very good                    Good               Fair                 Poor                Very poor Greens                                                                         ? Tees                                                                             ? Bunkers                                                 ? Fairways                                                                     ?                    ?                   Semi-rough                                           ? Rough                                                                         ? Locker room                                                               ? Clubhouse and catering                                                                      ? Golf marshalling                                                         ? Booking procedures                                                    ?	Combo of clustered column and Line chart
9	How would you rate the overall quality and value for money of our golf courses? Poor                1            2        ?   3       4        5         6      Excellent	Line chart
10	Please add any other general comments	Smart Art table for all the comments.