The popular game show Family Feud is one of my favorites. The idea is simple: poll people on various topics and parse the data for the top answers.
The same method and model can be applied to golf as a way to understand the consensus on certain topics. At this scale and sample, it’s not fair of us to apply the results to the overall population. That said, it gives us an easy and quick assessment that can be indicative of results we might see on a larger scale.
Take, for example, Kirkland Golf Clubs. With the introduction of the Kirkland Signature Driver and Kirkland Signature Irons, I wanted an easy way to assess how golfers really feel about what Kirkland is doing.
As such, I conducted a survey and have parsed through the data to provide you with a succinct breakdown of what golfers feel and think about Kirkland golf clubs. Here’s what I found.
Demographics
Respondents to the survey (conducted via the MyGolfSpy Forum) ranged in handicap from 0 (scratch) to 28.5. The majority of respondents (50.3 percent) reported that they play golf several times per week, with 40.5 percent playing multiple times per month.
With this in mind, let’s dive into some of the top answers.
What are your thoughts on the Kirkland Signature irons?
We asked 100 golfers to give us their thoughts on the new Kirkland Signature irons. After collecting the responses, I parsed through the data using a Natural Language Toolkit via Python. From here, I was able to filter responses to extract the adjectives that appeared most frequently across all responses.
The Top Answers are on the Board
Golfers more frequently described the Kirkland Signature Irons as “good” and “great.” Other words that appeared frequently across the board were “clean,” “nice,” “similar” and “sleek.”
While the consensus was that the Kirkland irons are both clean and sleek, it’s worth noting that most golfers we polled found the irons similar to other popular player’s distance irons on the market.
Golfers also described the Kirkland Irons as “classic,” “modern” and “fine.”
Would you play Kirkland Signature irons?
The survey also gave respondents a chance to say whether they would game Kirkland Signature irons. The consensus was clear: Kirkland Signature Irons are gamers.
What are your thoughts on the Kirkland Signature driver?
We asked 100 golfers to give us their thoughts on the new Kirkland Signature driver. As I did with the Kirkland irons, I parsed through the data using a Natural Language Processing Toolkit via Python. Then I filtered responses to extract the adjectives that appeared most frequently.
Here’s what golfers said about the Kirkland Signature driver.
The top answers are on the board
Most golfers shared similar sentiments between the Kirkland irons and Kirkland driver. The word “cheap” stands out for the driver.
Golfers also described the Kirkland Signature driver as “brash,” “inoffensive” and “generic.”
Would you play the Kirkland Signature driver?
Golfers were also polled to find out whether they would play the Kirkland Signature driver. The results were not as lopsided as with the irons. Nearly five percent more golfers said they would not play the Kirkland Signature driver as opposed to the irons.
What are your overall thoughts on Kirkland golf clubs?
The survey also asked golfers to provide their general overall thoughts on Kirkland golf clubs. I went through the same process to parse and extract the words respondents used most frequently.
The top answers are on the board
Golfers described Kirkland golf clubs as “friendly,” “decent” and good as a “starter” set. Surprisingly, this question was the first time the word “affordable” made multiple appearances.
Are Kirkland golf clubs good for the game?
Survey respondents were asked whether they think Kirkland golf clubs are good for the game. The results are pretty telling of how people feel about having more budget-friendly options.
Practice in polarity
After scraping respondents’ answers for their thoughts on Kirkland golf clubs, I also conducted a full sentiment analysis in Python using a Sentiment Intensity Analyzer. Basically, this tool assigns each response a polarity score of 1 (positive) 0 (neutral) or -1 (negative) based on its contents. Most answers are not fully positive, neutral or negative. Often they contain a combination of the three.
For example, one respondent described the Kirkland Irons as “budget friendly, sleek, game improvement.” The Sentiment Intensity Analyzer assigned this response scores of 0 (negative), .326 (neutral) and .674 (positive). The scores are then compounded (.735) and assigned the polarity score based on the following equation: > 0.2 = 1, < -.02 = -1.
Once all responses were analyzed for overall sentiment, I placed them in a graph to provide an overarching look at the sentiment.
Sentiment Analysis: Kirkland Irons
Sentiment Analysis: Kirkland Driver
Sentiment Analysis: Kirkland Golf Clubs (Overall)
Final thoughts
Based on the overall survey results, I think it’s fair to say most people are on board with Kirkland delivering budget-friendly golf clubs. For many golfers (based on those we polled), having an extra-value option is only going to help the game of golf.
What are your feelings on Kirkland golf clubs? Are you in the majority or minority? I hope you found this survey both reflective and insightful.
What should we ask next?
Pete A
2 years ago
I think overall it is good for the game as more people will be exposed to quality, affordable equipment. I am surprised that the irons more of a players club than a game improvement club. In my opinion, most people who are a good enough player to game these clubs will most likely get fit or at least hit them before purchasing. Would have thought they’d go game improvement or at least players distance to appeal to a larger group of players.