Determinants of Success among Professional Golfers

Davidson, James D.; Templin, Thomas J.

doi:10.1080/02701367.1986.10605389

Cited by 35 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Belkin et al (1994) identified greens in regulation as the best statistical predictor of scoring average, thus expanding the findings of Davidson and Templin (1986). More recently, Wiseman and Chatterjee (2006) replicated earlier findings on the importance of shot-making skills.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…The performance statistics selected for this study have been shown to be strong predictors of a golfer's performance (Belkin et al, 1994;Davidson & Templin, 1986;Wiseman & Chatterjee, 2006), they were: strokes per round, driving accuracy, drive length, greens in regulation and putts per round. Strokes per round was calculated by dividing the player's total number of strokes for the tournament by the number of rounds he played (2 or 4, depending on whether he made the cut).…”

Section: Holistic Approach: Performance Statistics Across Tournamentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A ‘New’ Old Course? An Assessment of the Effects of Alterations to the Old Course at St. Andrews on the 2015 Open Championship

Gaudet

2017

JSA

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Abstract. The Old Course at St. Andrews Links is one of the world's most revered golf courses and the Open Championship is the oldest major championship in professional golf. In 2015 the Old Course hosted the Open Championship. Beforehand, several of the course's holes were altered in an attempt to maintain its difficulty and counteract the rapid advances in professional golfers' skills and equipment. This study assessed the effects of the alterations to the Old Course in two ways. The aggregate performance statistics for the 2005, 2010, and 2015 Open Championship tournaments, all hosted at the Old Course, were compared. Scoring on the altered holes was compared across the 2010 and 2015 tournaments, as were the differences between the altered and unaltered holes. The analyses took into account the weather conditions. Players' overall scores improved between the 2010 and 2015 tournaments, but not between the 2005 and 2010 tournaments. Players' scores only differed between the 2010 and 2015 tournaments for two of the altered holes, indicating that the changes had a negligible overall effect. Strategic factors that might account for the observed differences and the implications of the analysis for efforts to alter courses to maintain difficulty are discussed.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Holistic Approach: Performance Statistics Across Tournamentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A ‘New’ Old Course? An Assessment of the Effects of Alterations to the Old Course at St. Andrews on the 2015 Open Championship

Gaudet

2017

JSA

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“…He can do this by hitting more greens in regulation. Davidson and Templin (1986) suggest that a wide variety of skills are necessary for success on the PGATour. While a player with versatile skills should have an advantage on the golf course, the KCS metric's usefulness lies in the encapsulation of the critical elements of a golfer's game in one index.…”

Section: Measuring Success On the Pga Tourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping statistics to success on the PGA Tour

Sen

2012

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal

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Purpose -Although the PGA Tour provides a wide array of statistics, no single measure has successfully been able to predict a player's success during the season, either in terms of earnings per tournament or weighted average scores. The purpose of this paper is to present a metric that attempts to predict annual player rankings based on these two criteria. Design/methodology/approach -The metric is computed from available statistics and attempts to encapsulate a player's unique strengths and weaknesses in a single number. Findings -Deviations in rankings based on the metric are compared to those based on earnings per event and adjusted scoring averages. The results suggest that in addition to the average annual performance on the greens, the mix of tournaments played and the incidence of heroics or consistency have an important impact on the chances of success on the Tour. Research limitations/implications -The metric's predictions can be negatively affected if a golfer makes a large proportion of double eagles or double bogies.Practical implications -The KCS (Key Criterion of Success) metric provides a quick route to succinctly summarizing a golfer's unique strengths and weaknesses in a single number. Originality/value -Previous literature has mentioned the gap between statistics and success in golf. For the first time, possible reasons behind this divergence are identified in this paper.

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“…Although there have been several examinations of the factors influencing golf performance (e.g. Davidson & Templin, 1986;Nix & Koslow, 1991), we know very little about the maintenance of golf performance over time. The purpose of this study was to examine the rate of decline in performance across the careers of professional golfers to determine (a) whether golf performance declines according to the 0.5% per year rate suggested by Bortz and Bortz (1996) and (b) whether this performance decline is attenuated by the number of competitive rounds played each year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

A longitudinal examination of performance decline in champion golfers

Baker

Horton

Pearce

et al. 2006

High Ability Studies

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The maintenance of skilled performance is of increasing interest and importance in our aging society. Bortz and Bortz (1996) suggested that cognitive and physical abilities decline at a rate of 0.5% per year from peak performance. However, examinations of expert performance in cognitivemotor activities suggest that performance in these areas can be maintained with age. This study examined the career performance of 17 professional golfers. Results showed that the age-related decline in golf performance was on average 0.07% for the period 35-49 years of age and 0.26% for the period 51-60 years of age. While additional research is required to determine the generalizablity of these results, they indicate that the age-related decline in skilled golf performance is considerably less than previously suggested.

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Determinants of Success among Professional Golfers

Cited by 35 publications

References 3 publications

A ‘New’ Old Course? An Assessment of the Effects of Alterations to the Old Course at St. Andrews on the 2015 Open Championship

A ‘New’ Old Course? An Assessment of the Effects of Alterations to the Old Course at St. Andrews on the 2015 Open Championship

Mapping statistics to success on the PGA Tour

A longitudinal examination of performance decline in champion golfers

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