St Andrews, Scotland and Liberty Corner, New Jersey, United States: A global online questionnaire and data-gathering exercise on distance in golf has been launched by The R&A and the USGA as part of the Distance Insights project.
The detailed questionnaire is open to all interested participants in golf until October 31 and is available in 10 languages. Administered independently by Sports Marketing Surveys Inc, it can be accessed at both www.randa.org/distanceinsights and www.usga.org/distanceinsights
Each person who takes the survey will be asked a series of universal questions about distance in golf (defined by how far shots travel), such as:
Participants who express interest while taking the survey may be invited to take part in follow-up telephone interviews or online group conversations to gather deeper perspectives on the topic. While individual responses will be confidential, anonymised global survey results will be published in the final Distance Insights project report, to be delivered in 2019.
The R&A and the USGA will also accept relevant original or commissioned data and research directly related to distance via email until December 20. Individuals or organisations may also request to present their data in person. Distance Insights email address as well as terms and conditions regarding the submission of research and data can be found here.
The R&A and the USGA embarked on the Distance Insights project in May to initiate the most comprehensive global study of distance in golf to date.
Through primary and third-party research, a detailed research and data review and the collection of views from throughout the golf industry, the aim is to achieve better understanding of the contributors to and impacts of distance on golf.