2009 Jamestown Park Golf Course Survey Results 25 August 2009 By R. E. Pifer, Ph.D. Meaningful Analytics

Background The Jamestown Park Golf Course (JPGC) is a well-known landmark in Guilford and surrounding counties – Play initiated on the course in 1975 – Besides providing opportunity for healthy outdoors enjoyment, it and the associated Park facilities add to the prominence and property values of the Town Many JPGC facilities are dated and a rejuvenation is being considered – To help with the planning, a survey of golfers was conducted Information was collected from April 15 to May 31, golfers who play at JPGC responded to the survey This document summarizes results from the survey 2

Executive Summary All survey participants play at Jamestown Many details were discovered … – About the players, and – About features they would like to have at the course The majority of players consider a round of golf at JPGC to be a “Good” value 3

Methodology Data was collected by both paper questionnaires that were collected at the Park and online surveys – A “sweepstakes” was held to encourage participation The prize was fee and cart with lunch for a group of 4 To collect the prize if chosen, each golfer had to list his/her name and contact information at the end of a completed questionnaire Each person was asked to make only one entry – The recording of names served as a check that prevented anyone from over-representing his or her opinion by submitting multiple surveys – All participants had to play at least occasionally at JPGC 4

Methodology (Cont’d) Information is presented on the basis of a number of perspectives – The simple total group of 174 JPGC golfers – each person’s survey counts as “one vote” – A “weighted” total group, where each completed survey represents the number of rounds of play at JPGC – each person’s survey is counted more or less depending on the amount of play at JPGC Other things being equal, responses from people playing “daily” were given 7 times more weight than responses from people who play “weekly” Other things being equal, responses from people who only play at JPGC (10 out of every 10 rounds) are weighted 10 times more than those who play just 1 round at JPGC out of every 10 they play – Actual Frequent JPGC Players These 10 golfers are more frequent players at JPGC than the 164 others Among those completing the survey, they account for 40% of the JPCG rounds played – Potential Frequent JPGC Players There are 75 such players who play daily or weekly but fewer than 5 out of 10 rounds at JPGC Among those completing the survey, they account for 25% of the JPCG rounds played If they played just one more round at JPGC out of the 10 they play, JPGC would have almost a 10% increase in rounds played 5

Methodology (Cont’d) Except for the pricing section and a few other places, information is conveyed as percentages – Example: Consider the method by which surveys were returned 69.3% of 174 people completed the survey via However, when these people are “weighted” according to rounds played at JPGC, we observe that the majority (51.2%) returned the survey in person at the golf course – This and the fact that the majority (57.1%) of the “Actual Frequent Players” returned their surveys at JPGC makes sense because these people are there a lot In some places median (middle value) and mean (simple average) values are presented 6

Results – Who Are JPGC Golfers? Those completing the survey are almost all men They tend to be moderately older, age 51 to 65 7

Results – How Skilled Are They? Survey participants are fairly skilled at golf – The majority have a handicap of between 10 and 19 – Frequent JPGC golfers are even more skilled, with the majority (50%) of them having a handicap of between 0 and 9 8

Results – How often do they play? The majority of JPGC golfers play weekly – Actual “Frequent” players play daily 9

Results – How often do they play? (Cont’d) The majority of golfers play more than half of their rounds at other courses – Among “Total” respondents only about 4 out of 10, or 40%, of their play is at JPGC – Among frequent players we find the following: About 30%, or 3 out of 10 rounds, of “Potential Frequent Players” play is at JPGC About 70% of “Actual Frequent Players” play is at JPGC – Figures for the “Weighted Total” are higher because weights were constructed in part based on responses to this question in order to highlight play done at JPGC 10

Results – Most And Least Favorite Holes The favorite holes of most are #11 and #15 – More Actual Frequent Players like #7 most #3 seems to be the least favorite hole 11

Results – Green Speed Preference Most like a “medium fast” green speed – However, more Actual Frequent Players tend to like a “fast” green speed – Nevertheless, “medium fast” seems to be the ideal choice 12

Results – Preferred Design Of Greens The vast majority of JPGC players like to have a variety of different green shapes on which to play 13

Results – Preferred Type Of Bunkers Splash bunkers with powder sand are preferred by most Least preferred are deep bunkers with coarse sand 14

Results – Preferred Grass Height A slight majority tend to like the fairways mowed tight – Potential Frequent Players seem to like them mowed higher Considerable majorities prefer to have the rough mowed 1 ½ inches high 15

Results – Pin Placement Almost all want to have variety in pin placements, with the choice of “6 easy, 6 medium, 6 hard” overwhelmingly being selected most often 16

Results – Weekend Start Preferences Strong majorities favor weekend starts from both #1 and #10 When seasonally feasible, most favor a 7:00 AM weekend start 17

Results – Value For The Money At JPGC The majority of players consider a round of golf at JPGC to be a “Good” value – Except among Potential Frequent Players, more claim that JPGC’s prices are “Excellent” than who say they are “Average” 18

Results – JPGC Pricing Current weekend prices for cart and play are about right – The median (middle value) price considered fair to both the player and JPGC employees is $35, same as is currently charged 19

Results – Driving Range Evaluation The majority of players feel the driving range is at least “somewhat” important – The majority of Actual Frequent Players think it is “very” important Most people in all groups rate JPGC’s driving range as “good” 20

Results – Food And Beverage Cart Services Food service ratings range from “good” to “excellent” as do beverage cart ratings – Actual Frequent Players rate both services higher than do others 21

Results – Involvement With JPGC Few are members of the Jamestown Golf Association The majority of Actual Frequent Players have a Loyalty Card, but fewer Potential Frequent Players do – Encouragement of all to present their Loyalty Card prior to playing might increase numbers who have them – This in turn might increase play 22