(A continuation of the J.C. Jones thread "Generational Tastes", introducing some research about music tastes, and attempting to make a connection with tastes in golf courses and golf experiences.)
Golf course ranking and evaluation has improved since the lists of greatest golf courses were first introduced. More people participate in the rankings, with far greater exposure to golf courses worthy of recognition. Furthermore, the prosperity of modern society, combined with a better (or renewed) understanding of what makes golf great, has raised the bar of excellence. For sophisticated golfers, there’s never been a better time to be a connoisseur of golf courses.
Still, golf course evaluation remains a poorly researched subject. Much has been learned through discussion, but it’s too small a field to merit a serious, sociological analysis about what golfers like. Sophisticated designers and businessmen dictate course architecture and maintenance practices. The industry might benefit from a large study with a detailed questionnaire asking players what they want, along with a basic analysis of each participant’s personality. Until that time, recent trends in design and maintenance seem headed in the right direction to me.
Some of you know I’ve devoted a lot of time to studying popular music in recent years. An essential part of social life, musical tastes and preferences have been studied at length, and the advent of “big data” analysis enhances the ability to understand what people like and why.
Over the last year, I’ve been stuck with writer’s block on my music project. I need to write a few paragraphs about the modest research I’ve done about musical preference, mostly to show that tastes are varied and personal. I thought I’d break the ice by using a few insights to open a discussion on golf course preferences. Again.
The Adolescent Peak
In “The Songs That Bind” (New York Times, February 10, 2018), Seth Stephens-Davidowitz uses data searches he requested from Spotify to show that one’s lifetime music tastes tend to peak at 13-14 years old. There is some modest variance, but it’s a powerful rule of thumb. (In my case, there is a clear preference for music recorded between 1963 and 1973, when I was 5-15 years old)
The only way this fact might relate to golf might be a special fondness for golf courses played in one’s youth. Age is a weak determinant of what golf courses we like best, but that might be more a matter of having greater opportunities in adulthood.
Personality Traits
In “Music Preferences and the Adolescent Brain: A Review of Literature” (National Association for Music Education, 2016, Vol. 35), Karen S. Walker discusses the connection between music tastes and personality type, and how music tastes serve as a means of identification to others for social purposes:
“Many teenagers identify with others who like similar music and tend to group themselves accordingly. Social cliques are often formed in high school among teens with similar music preferences. For example, teens who prefer heavy metal music are more likely to socialize with those who have similar tastes, as opposed to socializing with teens who prefer different styles, such as jazz music. Many teens feel a strong need to fit in and be accepted socially, so their musical preferences may change depending on their social situation.” -- Karen S. Walker
Is taste in golf courses related to one’s social group? I would say yes, to an extent, and add there exists some groupthink within golfing cliques. GCA members tend to find friends within our group, which likely has some influence on their evaluation of courses and architects. People tend to divide up by political affiliation, their social tendencies and by general professional careers. And people are highly influenced by their trusted friends. My best friends here tend to be nerdy and introverted, with most in engineering fields. People find their own tribe. For instance, do I favor modern courses and clubs over the classic Golden Age courses, because I have a thin resume and lack the political savvy to receive an invitation to a prestigious golf club? At the same time, I find a significant part of golf club culture to be pretentious. It’s a fine line between a resentment of the social hierarchy, and feeling left out.
The Big Study
By far, the most interesting and relevant study on musical tastes is “Music Through The Ages: Trends in Musical Engagement and Preference From Adolescence Through Middle Adulthood”, published in July, 2013 by three British psychologists from Cambridge and one American scientist in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A large study of over a quarter million people, the study compares musical preferences with both personality characteristics and age. It’s a remarkable piece of work, and I felt some of the conclusions were relevant to our study of golf courses.
I will only include data I feel is relevant to GCA.
First of all, music preferences were divided into five dimensions, cleverly using the five letters of the word “MUSIC”.
Mellow
Unpretentious
Sophisticated
Intense
Contemporary
These five dimensions of musical preference were correlated with 23 musical genres, as well as five personality types (The Big Five Inventory):
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability
Openness
The study followed participants for up to eight years, and were therefore able to make some strong judgments about age and musical preference.
1. A desire for Unpretentious and/or Sophisticated music increased with age.
2. A desire for Intense and/or Contemporary music decreased with age.
3. The desire for Mellow music increases until age 25 or so, then decreases to age 55, and then begin to increase again.
With regards to personality traits:
4. Mellow music correlates highly with Openness.
5. Unpretentious music correlates to a moderate degree of Extraversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness.
6. Sophisticated music correlates highly Openness.
7. Intense music also correlates highly with Openness, but also to those with a low degree of Conscientiousness.
8. Contemporary music correlates with Extraversion, which makes sense. If you are extroverted and want to be sociable with others, it is sensible to like what is new and hip to establish one’s social credentials.
“By middle adulthood (age 40-65), the psychological stage that individuals face is the challenge of developing a career, raising a family, and maintaining friendships. Preferences for Unpretentious and Sophisticated music were highest during this life stage. Both music dimensions are perceived as positive and relaxing, but whereas Unpretentious is more simple and about themes of love and family, Sophisticated is more complex and indicative of high culture. Thus, the relaxing and familial themes of Unpretentious music may be appealing among individuals preoccupied with the challenge of establishing social status and career success.”
Bonneville-Roussey, Xu, Rentfrow, Potter, 2013
Discussion
The five dimensions of musical preference closely parallel what is needed for a discussion of golf course preference. In fact, only the Mellow and Intense categories are worth considering a change to reflect the ease or difficulty of play. Unpretentious, Sophisticated and Contemporary are easily translated into styles of golf course design. What one regards as Unpretentious or Sophisticated may vary.
Golf courses can be Mellow or Intense in terms of the physical and mental demands. Even a flatter course with short green to tee walks might be a very Intense playing experience (Pinehurst #2, for example). A golf course with challenging play tee-to-green play, while possessing gentle greens with uncomplicated short game play, might be regarded as enough of a mental break to be considered a Mellow playing experience. Intense golf might be about the walk, or the relentless mental demands. Pasatiempo is a course in my golfing sphere that is an Intense experience.
I’m going to change the terminology to Gentle and Demanding as better descriptors for the golf experience.
Gentle
Unpretentious
Sophisticated
Demanding
Contemporary
I have clearly enjoyed Sophisticated golf courses more in recent years, with lots of variety and requiring significant thought. To me, Sophisticated means lots of factors to consider, such as wind, hazards, and contour. I like complicated golf courses. My enjoyment of Sophisticated golf courses grew in middle age, but may now be waning. I only played my two club courses this year (and only 10 rounds total), and playing your home club is generally a Gentle experience.
Weaker players would desire Gentle golf courses, while better players are more likely to desire Demanding challenges. That’s an additional factor to consider, not related directly to personality type. However, one might suggest that musicians have additional demands for the music they listen to, though not necessarily for a Gentle or Demanding listening or playing experience.
Contemporary golf courses are wildly varied. In this context Contemporary might represent new, popular golf courses, ranging from Sand Valley to Sand Hollow to Common Ground. I like modern golf courses very much, but I feel that golf course design lost its way in the late 20th century. Is there a component of Contemporary course design where certain personalities love and embrace the newest trends in golf? Our group has overwhelmingly Sophisticated tastes.
Finally, Unpretentious is the most important trait of a golf course for me. Or conversely, pretentious golf architecture and maintenance is the worst thing. Pretentiousness is manifested in many ways, and means different things to different people. For me it means water hazards with waterfalls, or courses with impossible green to tee walks so that carts must be used. For others it may mean overly contoured and difficult greens. I simply despise self-conscious attempts to make something fancy, which is why I like minimalism in golf courses and all things golf. I can’t stand overt attempts to try and convince me something is fancy and special.
Thanks. I realize this is long and tangential to golf course study, but it’s a serious attempt to generate a little more discussion, and perhaps a different way to see golf architecture. Every now and then I try to approach the subject from a different angle.