Volume 24 Issue 03
Grading AI for Golf Industry Analysis: Pass/Fail?
Harkening back to college days (The Citadel in Charleston, SC for me, just past my 45th reunion last year), many of you likely had the opportunity, or actually took a course or two, on a pass/fail basis. I had a couple of electives that I was curious about but didn’t want to expose my GPA to that “curiosity risk” so I took one pass/fail. So how does that factor into this month’s discussion on industry topics of interest?
Like the vast majority of you, I’ve been both curious and compelled to explore, understand and learn how AI can simplify complex tasks, provide reliable information on inquiries (from simple to moderately-complex) and increase my productivity in both work and personal tasks and interests. Specific to the work front, I thought it would be fun and interesting to give AI a test on golf industry facts, trends and insights. Unlike my college days, the fun part about this experiment is I got to give it a test on questions to which Pellucid has the answers. In some cases, we exclusively know the answer, in others there are multiple versions of facts and opinions. Here’s how we’ll navigate the topic:
- What is the “raw material” AI has to work with, what are some limitations and why does the line of questioning matter?
- How did it do in answering my battery of test questions about industry performance?
- Will AI queries and “vibe coding” make Pellucid reports and Business Intelligence platforms (like the GLMA or GMRC) obsolete?
My summary assessment is that, taken as a pass/fail test, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.6 earned a passing grade for the battery of 20-25 industry questions (after I explained to it that the PGA TOUR, the majors and their attendance and TV ratings don’t constitute golf industry performance). If Claude were taking my course for a letter grade, I’d give it a C with components of a B for convenience and speed in aggregating disparate, relevant information and a D for accuracy and correct sourcing in this initial assessment. For our subscribers, keep scrolling down to get the supporting facts and insights. For everyone else, you can get the rest of the story one of three ways:
- Subscribe to the comprehensive Pellucid Publications Membership for $495/yr or $45/mo (annual term), subscribers get access to the following:
- Outside the Ropes monthly digital newsletter
- Annual State of the Industry report & video (75-slide PowerPoint presentation plus online access to Jim/Stuart Orlando presentation video)
- Geographic Weather Impact Tracking (US, 45 regions, 61 markets) or Cognilogic for daily/monthly Golf Playable Hours/Capacity Rounds for individual facilities
- National Consumer Franchise Health Scorecard (expanded data and tables underlying this issue’s summary figures)
- Subscribe to OtR, 12 monthly issues for $250/yr or $25/mo (annual term), with a money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied at any time during your subscription. Subscribers also get access to the historical archive of past issues (last two years) via the members-only section of the Pellucid website
- Subscribe to Golf Market Research Center (for operators wanting a combination of insights and action tools) – Here’s what’s included in an annual GMRC subscription for either $500 annual or $450 for NGCOA members (or $45/mo or $41/mo respectively):
- Full suite of Performance Tracking reports – Market profile, comparative trends report and 7 KPI scorecard for any month and Year-to-Date for data provided by facility
- Facility-level Cognilogic historical weather impact portal/reports access, Golf Playable Hours & Capacity Rounds by day in current month, by months in current year and by day-of-week in current year with comparisons to Year Ago and the 10-Yr Norm
- Facility-level Foresight 60-day Capacity Rounds forecast, select forecast weather elements (hi/lo temp, daily precip etc.), variance to last year and long-term Normal. Not infallible but better than guessing or trying to collect all that yourself and organize it manually…
- Outside the Ropes monthly e-newsletter (consider this a sample of topics and treatments)
- State of the Industry Presentation, report & video (75-slide PowerPoint presentation plus online access to Jim/Stuart Orlando presentation video)
To learn more:
