Understanding golf satisfaction: an expanded role of hospitality attributes

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

Examine the role that hospitality serves in meeting the needs of participants in the traditions-focused sport and leisure activity of golf. By developing a scale for on-course experiences, this paper supports the successful operation of golf clubs by expanding our understanding beyond traditional considerations.

Methodology:

This paper develops a scale to evaluate on-course expectations using a mixed methods approach. Initial focus groups identified touchpoints covering golfers’ expectations through scale development with further factor analyses identifying critical customer touchpoints.

Findings:

Findings suggest that golfers value hospitality attributes as part of the overall on-course experience. While activity-focused aspects of course design, course quality, and pace of play are essential, hospitality features of player support and course hospitality emerged as important.

Implications:

Provides insights into golf management by exploring the growing influence that hospitality touchpoints have on overall satisfaction, where an intense focus on the game has been the norm and components, such as hospitality services, have been an afterthought.

Contribution:

Results developed a detailed scale including five factors and 28 touchpoints that can be used in future golf research. These touchpoints create an understanding of on-course expectations that can be used to further golfer understanding.

KEYWORDS:

• golf
• leisure
• sport
• management
• customer satisfaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).