Abstract Background: Golf is a sport with a growing focus on the physical aspect of the game and its relationship to performance. Studies have determined a correlation between club head speed and performance in golf. Rotational power has proven to be an important factor for the club head speed. By examining the relationship between club head speed and rotational power, researchers has found that rotation power on the golfers dominant side have a moderate to high correlation with club head speed. Previous research has mostly investigated the peak rotational power on the dominant side. Furthermore, additional research is needed to examine the bilateral strength and its relationship to club head speed. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between peak trunk rotational power and club head speed in elite golfers, and also to study the impact of bilateral rotational strength on club head speed. Methods: The study included 27 elite golf players (21 males, 6 females) age 19±2 years. The subjects attended two sessions where the first session included a club head speed test and the second session a rotation power test in the Quantum machine. The rotational peak power ratio (dominant/non-dominant side) were ranged from 1-27 (the closer to 1, the higher order) to study a linier relationship with club head speed. Spearman’s nonparametric rank correlations coefficient (rs) was used since the data was not normally distributed. Results: There was a moderate correlation between peak trunk rotational power on the dominant side and club head speed ( rs=0.58, p=0.01). The correlation between the peak trunk rotational powers on the dominant and non- dominant side was high, rs=0.82 (p=0.01). There were no significant correlation found between the ranged rotational peak power ratio and club head speed (rs=0.30, p=0.1). Conclusion: The current study found a slightly lower correlation between peak trunk rotational power and club head speed than found in earlier studies. The golfers in this study had symmetric strength in the trunk, other studies have shown that the rotational strength in golfer´s dominant side were higher than of the non- dominant side. The result of this study indicates that balance between the sides not necessarily has a relationship with how high the golfer’s club head speed is. Future research is needed to analyze the quadratic correlation between ratio and club head speed on a more advanced level. The results of this study can, if validated, be used for further researching and understanding of club head speed and golf performance.

Thesis (MA)--Universiteit van Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The goal of this research is to establish the effect of a hypnosis programme, based on the cognitive behavioural-hypnotherapeutical model (Araoz, 1985), on amateur golfers with a handicap of less than five in tournament golf. A secondary goal is to establish whether the programme had an effect on their general golfing attitude towards competing in tournament golf. In this research the focus is specifically on "putting", because it plays an important role in tournament golf. It is a part of the game for which there is no prescribed technique, but which involves heightened concentration, and therefore psychological preparation is of optimal importance. The importance of psychological programmes to enhance performance is confirmed by literature. The participants were golfers with a handicap of less than five, and they took part in this research voluntarily. The group was split into an experimental and control group on an equal basis. Both groups took part in the same five tournaments prior to and following the intervention. The intervention consisted of a mental training programme and was supplemented by interviews, which were held with the experimental group before and after the programme to ascertain if it had an effect on their putting performances. The averages of their scores before and after the programme were measuredand then compared with those of the control group. The results of the comparison between the two groups indicated a significant difference between the groups regarding their putting stroke averages. The results of the control group scores indicated no discernable difference between the scores. The interviews confirmed this effect and showed the positive influence of a mental training programme on the general golfing ability and attitude towards tournament golf, on the experimental group. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die ondersoek is om die effek van 'n sielkundige inoefeningsprogram, gebaseer op die kognitiewe gedragshipnoterapeutiese model van Araoz (1985),op amateur-gholfspelers met 'n voorgee van minder as vyf in toernooigholf vas te stel. 'n Newe-doelstelling sal wees om vas te stelof algemene gholfgedrag en ingesteldheid teenoor kompeterende toernooigholf gewysig is, al dan nie. In die ondersoek word spesifiek op die setwerk van gholfspelers gefokus omdat dit 'n beduidende rol in toernooigholf speel. Setwerk is 'n aspek van die spel wat baie konsentrasie verg, en omdat daar geen spesifieke tegniek voorgeskryf word nie, is sielkundige voorbereiding noodsaaklik. Die belangrikheid van sielkundige programme om sportprestasie te verbeter, word deur die literatuur bevestig. Die proefpersone wat aan die ondersoek deelgeneem het, het bestaan uit 'n vrywillige groep ghOlfspelers met 'n voorgee van minder as vyf. Die ondersoekgroep is op 'n ewekansige wyse in 'n eksperimentele en 'n kontrolegroep verdeel. Beide groepe het aan dieselfde toernooie voor en na die intervensie deelgeneem. Die eksperimentele groep is aan die sielkundige inoefeningsprogram blootgestel. Daar is voor- en na-onderhoude met die eksperimentele groep gevoer om vas te stelof die program 'n effek op hulle spel of gedrag gehad het. Die voor- en na-toetsgemiddeldes van die eksperimentele groep (blootgestel aan 'n sielkundige inoefeningsprogram) en kontrolegroep (geen inwerking van 'n onafhanklike veranderlike nie) is met mekaar vergelyk. Na die ingreep het dit geblyk dat die eksperimentele groep nie 'n beduidende verbetering ten opsigte van setwerk getoon het nie. Waar die resultate van die eksperimentele groep met die kontrolegroep vergelyk is, is 'n betekenisvolle verskil tussen die twee groepe gevind. By die kontrolegroep is daar geen beduidende resultate ten opsigte van enige veranderlike gevind nie. Uit die onderhoude het dit geblyk dat die sielkundige inoefeningsprogram 'n beduidende wysiging in die algemene gholfgedrag en ingesteldheid van die eksperimentele groep teenoor kompeterende gholf tot gevolg gehad het.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

A spatial hedonic model was constructed for a lakefront golf course community in South Carolina. Geographic information system (GIS) analysis classified 589 vacant lots into eight different view categories including golf course, mountain, and lake views. The OLS results confirm a hierarchy in the pricing of views with premiums ranging from 42% to 54% for golf course views, 94% to 133% for lake views, and 131 %to 305% for lakefront lots. Spatial variables including the slope of a lot, length of shoreline, and proximity to the lakeside village were also found to be statistically significant variables influencing the value of the property. Other spatial variables were found to be statistically insignificant including view aspect and length of golf course frontage. Tests for spatial autocorrelation were conducted for the 589 properties utilizing spatial lag and spatial error models. Both spatial models were statistically superior compared to the original OLS model. The diagnostic tools indicate that the modeling of the spatial errors using a maximum likelihood framework produces a statistically significant model that improves goodness-of-fit indicators compared to an alternative spatial lag model. These results confirm the importance of modeling spatial errors. The period of study, from 2000 to 2010, was a decade of turbulence in the real estate market on Lake Keowee. The empirical evidence indicates the emergence of a speculative bubble that reached its crescendo in 2005/2006 with median real estate prices doubling in a five year period. This study examines the role of launch marketing tactics as a price amplifier by creating an urgency to buy in response to a systematic increase in property prices and simultaneously limiting supply by restricting lot sales to 30% of reservations. Finally, the study illustrates that the construction of golf courses is no panacea to the problems confronting today's residential real estate developers. The results suggest that communities based on waterfront properties may have greater potential price growth in strong markets and resiliency in weak markets. Further research is warranted to understand the changing role of golf courses in the 21st century.

This thesis investigates the history of golf ceramics from their origins in the mid-18th century until ca. 1930. During this period the game of golf experienced enormous popularity, developing into a globally successful sport. In the modern period golf has also fostered a thriving trade for the collecting of golf memorabilia, surpassing that of any other comparable sport. The thesis traces the development and spread of one form of golf collectibles – golf ceramics – and considers both the relationship of the pottery industry to the sport and the reasons behind the achievement of the genre. The modern form of golf likely began in the 13th and 14th centuries as a short game played within town walls. Under pressure from Burgh officials and Kirk ordinances, golfers eventually moved to the linksland and developed the now characteristic long game. In 18th- century Britain, elite golf clubs for gentlemen and noblemen sprang from existing sporting societies such as the Royal Company of Archers. The first examples of golf pottery, a series of 18th - and early 19th - century convivial and commemorative punch bowls, were commissioned as a direct result of the growing competitive and social traditions of the early golfing societies. During the prosperous Victorian era, golf experienced a period of immense growth and geographic expansion, particularly during the "boom" of 1890 to 1905. As golf spread internationally, it became a game primarily for the leisure class, inspiring holiday and resort destinations for the wealthy. Exclusive clubs grew at a rate that far surpassed the availability of public golf, thereby changing the character of the game to one predominantly practised by the rich. The game's growth inspired enterprising pottery manufacturers to produce new and imaginative golf-themed pottery lines, pre-1930. Golf's burgeoning popularity, combined with the affluence of its practitioners, created the ideal consumer audience for decorative and non-utilitarian wares. Between 1895 and 1930, eighty-five or more manufacturers were actively developing golf wares. As the pottery industry recognized the potential of the golf market, inventive new lines were developed that utilized original artwork from renowned illustrators of the era, such as Charles Dana Gibson, Howard Chandler Christy, Palmer Cox, Mabel Lucie Attwell, and Harrison Fisher. This commitment to quality golf imagery indicated that potteries placed the game in a higher institutional priority than other traditional sporting themes, such as cricket, tennis, rugby, or football. Royal Doulton, for example, generated no fewer than twenty ranges specifically for the golf market or adapted to meet the demands of its expanding following. Doulton wares featured illustrative images produced by Gibson, Charles Crombie, Henry Mayo Bateman, Will H. Bradley, and Barbara Vernon (Bailey). Doulton’s commitment to prominent illustration reflected golf’s importance to the financial good footing of the firm. The substantial catalogue of historical golfing wares produced during the period of examination experienced unparalleled success in secondary markets throughout the 20th century. Prominent institutional and individual golf collections emerged, leading to the formation of international golf collecting societies, and golf-specific museums and archives. Interest in golf collectibles advanced to the level where golf became a stand-alone auction speciality. In 2000 and 2001 alone, twenty-three major international golf sales were held. Golf pottery values escalated commensurate with the increased notoriety, availability, and competition. Certainly, no other traditional sport can claim such an extensive collection of wares, or a more enduring legacy in the worldwide ceramics and fine art pottery industry.

Low, moderate, and high handicap golfers, while wearing glasses with a blinder on the side, attempted 9 putts differing in length from 5 to 21 ft under timed (less than 3.5s from grounding of club to initiation of back swing) and untimed conditions in a counterbalanced design. Confidence ratings were taken prior to and following each putt. The results revealed a significant condition by handicap group interaction (p=.021). The lower handicap group had a more consistent and lower initiation interval duration than did the moderate and high handicap players. Post interviews determined that 33 of the 35 golfers felt more comfortable in the untimed condition. However, golfers' confidence levels were not significantly different in the untimed condition as compared to the timed condition.

Koreans are increasingly participating in overseas golf holidays in the Asia Pacific region and this trend is expected to continue. The popularity of golf holidays has been linked to the growing demands of special interest tourism and sport tourism where tourists seek to satisfy specific travel needs and wants to meet their travel motivations. Research into travel motivation using the concept of the push and pull framework is therefore a focus of study in tourism research. To date, little or no research has examined travel motivation and tourist typology using the push and pull framework in the markets of special interest tourism, sport tourism, or golf tourism. This thesis fills the gap in the literature and contributes to knowledge of tourist motivation and typology. The aims of the research were therefore three-fold: to identify the push and pull factors of golf travel motivation, to classify heterogeneous golf tourists into homogeneous groups, and to profile the clusters with respect to socio-demographics, golf related behaviour and travel characteristics, destination attributes, and destination preferences. This was achieved by collecting empirical data on Korean golf tourists travelling in the Asia Pacific region. The methodology comprised both qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews and quantitative research based on self-completed questionnaires. A principal component factor analysis was employed to identify five push based socio-psychological motivations and seven pull based destination attributes. A cluster analysis was then conducted to classify golfers into three different clusters, namely, Golf-intensive Golfers, Multi-motivated Golfers, and Companion Golfers. The golf clusters were then profiled based on the findings in respect to socio-demographics, golf related behaviour and travel characteristics, destination attributes, and destination preferences. A cross tabulation with chi-square tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses of this thesis. Results revealed that golf tourists were not homogeneous in their push based socio-psychological travel motivations. Their profiles are theoretically and statistically feasible because the research tested hypotheses indicate that each cluster had both similarities and differences in socio-demographics, golf related behaviour and travel characteristics, destination attributes, and destination preferences. This suggests that marketing strategies should target both the different and similar aspects of golf travel behaviour. The research is of benefit not only to academics and practitioners in the study of travel motivations and tourist typology in the field of special interest tourism, sport tourism, and, in particular, golf tourism, but also to tourism marketers and tour operators in the development, promotion and packaging of golf holiday products.

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2010. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from PDF title page; viewed on Feb. 9, 2010. Major professor: Dr. Tom Mase. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering." "January 2010." Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-175).

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture