A Research Report On ‘Wave 2’ Of the Pre -Inaugural Logistics And Market Research Test Project
 For A Proposed Golf Event At DrummondBASE in Central Victoria

Event Organisers Iron Guts Crossinski and Comrade Cris ‘On Patrol with refreshments’ during the event

 

Iron Guts congratulating Stavros on winning the DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament on handicap – Wave 2

FAIRWAY HAZARD: Actual footage taken during event. Andi surgically removing ball from fresh droppings on the 1st hole

INTRODUCTION

This report presents the findings of the second wave (Wave 2) of the pre-inaugural logistics and market research test project conducted at DrummondBase in central Victoria over the 30th and 31st of October 2004. The research was conducted for the owners of DrummondBase, Iron Guts Crossinski and Comrade Chris, and was sponsored by the nnomads Golf Club.

OVERALL OBJECTIVES

The overall objectives of the research were to test a particular concept: The DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament with a view to fully implementing the concept in 2020. It was the second stage of research aimed at endlessly testing and refining the DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational concept over an extended number of years before full implementation.

OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES FOR WAVE 2

During the research briefing the owners of DrummondBase emphasised they were happy with the first pilot test conducted on the long weekend in January 2004. “Yeah, we are happy with the concept so far. It was a great success so we don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. The first pilot showed the events program, the between events entertainment, the accommodation and facilities and the meals and catering all worked fine. People just did it themselves.” explained Iron Guts. “This is about testing the time of year, the use of fires at night and running an event on a green rather than brown course. The rest of it is ok” emphasised Comrade Chris. “Yeah, it needs to be a cut down version, just big enough to test these concepts. See if you can roll the two golf events into one to save time and money.” Iron Guts instructed.

Thus, the Wave 2 operational objectives included testing respondent reactions to and satisfaction with:

  • Running the event in October instead of January:
  • Running the event on a course with grass (rather than dust);
  • The use of fires at night (not possible with fire restrictions during summer).

SAMPLE STRUCTURE

The sample of respondents for the Wave 2 research was sourced only from Victoria and involved respondents from a range of ages (7 to 50+ years old). As usual, most had experience in attending events such as these and were sourced from a select group of pre-profiled and pre-recruited families and individuals who agreed to participate subject to Australian Privacy Laws and the provision of an opportunity to drink a lot. As with the first wave of research a combination of ‘day trippers’, ‘overnighters’ and ‘weekenders’ were recruited to participate.

DETAILED FINDINGS

The detailed findings that came from the research were as follows:

1. Course preparation and presentation: The fieldwork showed that the course was in magnificent condition. All respondents were impressed with the greeeeen of the fairways and greens and most expressed their positive opinions unprompted. The views and vistas available from various parts of the course were particularly attractive. October was agreed to be a resounding success in terms of look, feel and condition of the course. “Yeah, well I got the neighbour to increase the stocking rate to 40 sheep per acre. That did the main job. Then we got Clean Phil to run over the greens with the brushcutter on the day.” explained Iron Guts when interviewed later by the media.

2. Innovative hazards: A further point of discussion was unusual hazards on the DrummondBase course including the normal stumps, logs, stones and other debris carefully placed on the various fairways. Of particular interest in this event, was the introduction of the ‘fresh steaming animal droppings hazard’, deemed to be a great success at the end of the day (although Andi didn’t respond particularly well after being caught smack in the middle of one as she approached the 1st green. See picture below). “I mean it really was steaming. You should have seen it.” laughed Andi seriously at the presentations.

3. The Combined ABLARU and Tequila Challenge Event in One: The fieldwork also showed that the combined event was hilarious and I mean hilarious. There were in fact two events run on the Saturday day, a Callaway event and a handicap event (to help depict the scenario where two different events were being run – the Tequila Challenge and the ABLARU). However, both events were run at the same time, that is, as the same event. Thus, contestants had to prepare for the Tequila Challenge in the normal way – lick-sip-suck, while contemplating the seriousness of competing in the ABLARU, a serious event on the nnomads golf calendar (with serious points up for grabs). Well, there was confusion. Colac K and J, who have never touched tequila in their lives, led the way (Neptune was rising at the time) setting the pace for the rest of the field. Nearly all other contestants felt obliged to participate and so it went.

Tightly fought contest: So, at the allocated time three groups of players teed off in the combined event (not sure what to call it). Robyn 1 and Clean Phil (reigning champions) with GMAC and Colac K led the field away in Group 1. Colac J, Thomei the Mist, Freddie Five Iron and Ro (and Cas as on course coach) followed them off in Group 2, with Stavros the Greek, Nurse Min, Cath, Andi and The Cardinal in the final group. Note: Andi and the Cardinal arrived seconds before they had to tee off and thus missed the photo opportunity.

Results on Handicap: Well, the surprise of the day was Ro who blitzed the field. His 62 off the stick and 41 handicap put him at the top of the leader board with a nett 21 at the end of the competition. This easily won him the ‘Junior Winner’ title, despite being the only entrant in the junior section of the competition. He gained 3 balls for his efforts and 10.5 points on the nnomads league ladder. Well done, Ro!

Stavros sneaks in on Handicap: In the ‘Open’ section, The Cardinal (43 / 10 / 33) was best off the stick, but could only achieve 3rd place on handicap. Stavros (45 / 15 / 30) and GMAC (45 / 13 / 32) both came in on 45 but Stavros’s higher handicap of 15 was enough to make him the Winner of the DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament on Handicap - Wave 2 by two strokes. He gained three balls for his efforts and 10.5 points on the nnomads league ladder. Congratulations Stavros.

Cardinal grabs the Callaway: Not to be out done, The Cardinal’s Callaway handicap was 8, which was good enough to get him a Nett 35, to give him the DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament on Callaway Handicap - Wave 2 event by one stroke. He had only 2 ‘Give ups’ and no ‘Seek helps’, which was better than anyone else on the day (See player stats at end of article). Nurse Min (52 / 16 / 36) and GMAC (45 / 8 / 37) were close behind. Nurse Min only had the one ‘Give up’ but stumbled with 3 ‘Seek helps’. GMAC kept the ‘Seek helps’ to 1 but had a couple of ‘Give ups’. Behind them were Stavros (45 / 7 / 38), Thombe (52 / 14 / 38) and Robyn 1 (59 / 21 / 38) all on a net 38. But they were all nudged out by The Cardinal, the better player on the day. Cardinal got three balls for his efforts giving him a 10.5 point boost on the nnomads league ladder. Congratulations Cardinal.

Robyn 1 Cleans Up Both Yet Again: Now I have left out some critical details in the story so far and they were the very impressive wins by Robyn 1in both events. After winning both Wave 1 events back in January, she again won both events in Wave 2. On handicap (59 / 25 / 34) she won by 6 strokes from next best Andi, and was 4th overall. In the Callaway (59 / 21 / 38) she was again equal 4th with Stavros and Thombei on net 38, beating next best Colac J by one stroke. This was despite 6 ‘Give ups’ and 2 ‘Seek helps’, an extremely impressive effort overall. “I’m not sure what came over me. That tequila has a strange effect on me.” professed Robyn 1 at the presentations. She won 6 balls on the day giving her a boost of a whopping 19.5 points on the nnomads league ladder, when bonus points are taken into account. It should also blast her strike rate to well over 200%, having now won more balls than events played (a feat that is difficult to achieve). She looks like a strong contender for the ‘2004 Women’s Title’ (as predicted by the author in an article back in March) and should now have moved ahead of Turbo on the nnomads league ladder (who has been leading the woman’s section for the latter part of the year).

Assessment of the combined event: “It was brilliant! I felt as though I was flying for much of the game. There is something in this golf thing” commented Colac K when asked for his opinion. And so, it was. A sensational combined event was had by all. “The conditions were perfect and the competition fierce. And it all occurred in a totally relaxed environment.” concluded Thombei, when interviewed later. Based on respondent feedback the consultants concluded the event was extremely successful and could easily be run at this time of year. We also concluded that the combined event was also an interesting concept and could be considered in future research. “I preferred the ‘Ambrose in pairs’ approach used last year but this certainly was a lot of fun” commented Cath after the event.

4. The Uses of Fires: The research showed that the ability to have fires at night was a real plus. “It gives you somewhere to throw your butts” explained GMAC who proved to be a strong advocate and frequent user of the fire concept. “Yeah something to fiddle with during the night” added Cardinal. A number of exercises were run during this part of the research including: Having the presentations standing around the fire, sitting staring at the fire for hours and congregating in large groups around the fire etc. “Yeah. Being mesmerised by the fire. Its great, and the kids just love it.” confirmed Freddie Five Iron when asked his opinion of the concept.

The consultants concluded the fire concept was a winner and should be retained in future formats. It was a natural focus during the evening with people returning to it time after time (GMAC for example could hardly stay away. He was back every 15 minutes). We concluded it would be sensible to test the fire concept in future research of this nature. “It better than picking up all the butts next day” mumbled Comrade Cris to Iron Guts on the Sunday morning.

SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS

At a summary level, the findings of the research showed that the second wave of the pre-inaugural logistics and market research test project designed to assess The DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament concept was extremely successful.

The October date was deemed a raging success and the grass instead of dirt golf course exceeded respondent expectations. The ability to have fires at night or at all was strongly endorsed as great feature of the weekend.

The analysis showed that every single respondent we spoke to when constructing this report provided a 10 out of 10 rating for overall satisfaction, an extremely good and credible result The consultants concluded that the DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament concept should be further endlessly tested and refined over an extended number of years before full implementation, planned for 2020.

Recommendation

“That the DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament concept be endlessly tested and refined over an extended number of years before full implementation, planned for 2020.”

DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament
Wave 2 Handicap Results

Player

Score

Hcp

Net

Ro

62

41

21

Stavros the Geek

45

15

30

GMAC

45

13

32

The Cardinal

43

10

33

Robyn 1

59

25

34

Thombei the Mist

52

16

36

Colac K

63

25

38

Nurse Min

52

14

38

Clean Phil

63

25

38

Andi

65

24

41

Cath

66

25

41

Colac J

68

25

43

Freddie Five Iron

62

14

48

 

DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament
Wave 2 Callaway Results

Course

Date

Player

Score

Net Score

Cal HCP

Drummond Base

30/10/04

The Cardinal

43

35

8

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Nurse Min

52

36

16

Drummond Base

30/10/04

GMAC

45

37

8

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Thombei

52

38

14

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Robyn 1

59

38

21

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Stavros the Greek

45

38

7

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Ro

62

39

23

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Colac J

68

39

29

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Clean Phil

63

39

24

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Colac K

63

39

24

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Freddie Five Iron

62

40

22

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Cath

66

40

26

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Andi

65

41

24

 

DrummondBase Ablaru Invitational Golf Tournament
Wave 2 Callaway Player Statistics

Course

Date

Player

Birdie

Par

Bogie

Dbl Bogie

Give up

Seek Help

Drummond Base

30/10/04

The Cardinal

0

2

3

2

2

0

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Nurse Min

0

0

3

2

1

3

Drummond Base

30/10/04

GMAC

0

2

3

1

2

1

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Thombei

0

0

2

2

4

1

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Robyn 1

0

1

0

0

6

2

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Stavros the Greek

0

3

3

1

0

2

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Ro

0

0

0

0

6

3

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Colac J

0

0

0

0

2

7

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Clean Phil

0

0

1

1

3

4

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Colac K

0

0

1

1

2

5

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Freddie Five Iron

0

0

1

0

3

5

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Cath

0

0

1

2

1

5

Drummond Base

30/10/04

Andi

0

0

0

1

3

5