Only a Club-Breaking Cheater calls Golf a Sport!

Throughout the year, we bloggers at Golfstinks like to poll our valued readers on all things golf. In 2010, we received some interesting poll results and this past year was no different.

We conducted several polls in 2011, and below we highlight the results of five of them. What have we learned? Well, that golfers are drinkers and club-breakers and cheaters, of course!

Let's begin in October, when we asked how you cheat at golf. Mind you, we already knew you were a cheater...we just wanted to know how. Are you a rule-bender or a rule-breaker? Turns out 78% of the 37 respondents are rule-benders (golfers who will take the occasional Mulligan or gimmie putt, etc.). Just 8% of you were rule-breakers (golfers who will kick their ball to a better lie or conveniently forget to take a stroke when the situation warrants it). Which leaves 13% of you as liars - or those who claim to neither bend nor break the rules.

Back in February, we wanted to know if you've ever broken a club in anger. Well, the majority (62%) of you haven't. But of the 48 golfers who took this poll, 29% said they've broken a club in anger once. Interestingly, 8% admit to being an "occasional" club-breaker. We wish we were a little more specific in this poll answer (e.g. what does "occasional" mean)? Either way, golfers beware: Club-breakers are out there, so don't let them get their hands on your new Callaway!

In September, we asked the age-old question; Is golf a sport? We received some interesting comments both for and against it being a sport (many see it as just a "game"). But the poll results were not as split. Of the 51 respondents, 62% said yes, golf is indeed a sport; while 37% said no it wasn't. There's still time to vote is this poll - so feel free to add your 2 cents!

In another February poll, we wanted to know how often you visited the 19-hole after your round. Well, according this this poll (and its 59 respondents), it seems about a third of the golfers out there typically belly-up to the bar after nearly every round. What's interesting is that another third typically skip the 19th-hole altogether and head home. And what about the final third? Well, for them it depends - about half the time they'll head in for a drink or some food, while the other half of the time they'll just hit the road. Ah the lonely life of a 19th-hole bar tender...

Our final 2011 poll is from June, when we wanted to know if golf daily deal sites were putting traditional golf merchants out of business. Well, 47% (out of the 69 respondents) answered in the negative, while just 26% said "yes" - golf daily deal sites were indeed killing traditional golf businesses. What made this poll interesting though was that 26% also said it was "too early to tell" if golf deal sites were bad for traditional establishments. Thus there seems to be some concern about these daily deal sites and their potential impact within the golf world - which may not bode too well for an already struggling industry.

So, all you club-breaking cheaters who call golf a sport - Keep an eye out for more interesting golf polls from Golfstinks in 2012!

Related Posts:
You Beer-Drinking, Cigar-Smoking, Club-Throwing, Late-Arriving, Sorry Excuse for a Golfer!

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POLL: Are Deal Sites Killing Golf Businesses?

As websites like Groupon and Living Social become more and more in vogue, these so-called "deal" sites (where visitors are presented with daily deals and coupons for products and services in their local area) are starting to make money... and lots of it.

And, it didn't take long for entrepreneurial-types to bring the deals to the golf industry. In fact, just two months ago, we here at the Golf Stinks blog told you about one such website that we rather liked.

But a recent email exchange* between a new golf deal site (that shall remain nameless) and a few folks on this company's spamming mailing list became rather heated. The email, which was announcing the launch of the new golf deal site, elicited the following response from one recipient:

"I personally believe discount sites like yours are the kiss of death for businesses, especially for golf as a business already experiencing many challenges. Training consumers that paying retail prices is unnecessary is going to crush most businesses and eventually will cause a complete degradation of service as companies struggle to deliver a discounted product. While consumers must like the deep discounts, they will ultimately lose as the quality of their golf experiences is worsened."

The previous response was followed by another:

"Could not have said it better myself. For those of you considering using these sorts of services, please be aware that listing your product at cut rates to get traffic is not "advertising" (something many discount providers will try to convince you it is). This is training your consumers that your services are not worthwhile and rewarding them for the least desired behavior. I know of two golf courses who have run promotions and both have been unhappy with the resulting discounted consumer they attracted. They are not getting these discounted consumers back at the full rate and are finding themselves fielding frustrated phone calls from consumers that had the integrity to pay full rate at their facility and are now being punished for it."

And another...

"It is important not to allow these types of programs to exist that basically whore ones services and products to new lows. The golf industry does not need this."

But that was followed by someone taking the deal site's side:

"I see a guy just trying to make a buck in a tough economy."

And finally, by another golf deal site trying to explain to the group that not all deal sites are bad for business:

"We tried this many times and also found it only attracts the client who is looking for a deal and not one really interested in good value. As soon as the deal ends, the client moves on. In the meantime, the regular clients get annoyed that they are being penalized for paying normal prices. A better strategy I have found is to work on client retention and offer deals to existing clients who bring or introduce their friends. This benefits and rewards everyone as well as expanding the client base and winning new business by word of mouth and referrals. This year we are up around 40% and it is all through word-of-month and referrals from existing clients."

Typically, all these emails would be rather annoying in general, but I think there is a good discussion point here: With the economy still struggling, these deal sites have a strong following. But is the practice hurting the traditional golf businesses that are also trying to survive in tough economic times? And furthermore, if deal sites are here for the long-term, will we see a negative net effect within the conventional retail golf industry?

Weigh-in by taking the poll below:

Are Deal Sites Killing Golf Businesses?

*It should be noted that Golfstinks, LLC became privy to this exchange by being one of the more than 100 recipients on the email. It should also be noted that Golfstinks, LLC did not opt-in to this company's mailing list, nor had Golfstinks, LLC even heard of said company before receiving the email in question.

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