A Model of Rational Golf Course Behavior

[abmack]

"Given that the goal of the game is to achieve the minimum possible score
on a hole or over a round, I argue that the most rational approach to playing golf involves an agent minimizing his expected score on a hole given a choice of strategies."

isn't this statement  from the department of redundancy department?  doesn't it need to be clarified or reworked to separate purpose and objectives... after all, there are rational and irrational strategies which are equally effective.

I think he is simply using classic economic terms, and "rational behavior" has a precise meaning:

DEFINITION OF 'RATIONAL BEHAVIOR'
A decision-making process that is based on making choices that result in the most optimal level of benefit or utility for the individual. Most conventional economic theories are created and used under the assumption that all individuals taking part in an action/activity are behaving rationally.

Bill,

This is spot on. When I talk about behavior as being rational, this is what I mean.

Sorry, I've spent too much time in an economics department. I stupidly assumed that this was understood.

[Bill Brightly]

abmack,

With 64 posts, you are WAY too new to understand that "rational behavior" will be a foreign term to most of the the posters on gca.com.

I was an economics major MANY years ago. Amazingly, I remember all the terms. Don't let the treehouse get to you! Enjoy your research, get your degree, and just don't become an economist. You'll be fine.

[Steve Lang]

  and "utility" function appears to be loaded language also that needs to be defined... gas, electric, water, sewer???

sorry i couldn't resist...

[Bill Brightly]

and "utility" function appears to be loaded language also that needs to be defined... gas, electric, water???

Of course!

DEFINITION OF 'UTILITY'
1. An economic term referring to the total satisfaction received from consuming a good or service.

A consumer's utility is hard to measure. However, assume that consumers will strive to maximize their utility.

[John Kirk]

Hi Andrew,

I'm following along with the thread, and have read about half of the research paper so far.

I was an engineer by training, and like others here, I see the core problem of minimizing score in terms of physics and statistics, and the decision making process as a non-discrete function.  Sometimes you aim at the hole, and sometimes you aim two or four or fifteen yards away from the hole, and the number of factors that determine the aiming decision are many.  If I think of anything else, I'll chime in.  I'll finish reading first.

John