This study is a trial Q-methodical study performed through golf course customers, aiming at analyzing enhancement factors of service quantity at golf courses located in Korea. This study investigated preliminary items four times. Stage1 composed 7 subsidiary factors of service quality, on the basis of precedent studies, considered to be applicable to all of the golf courses in common; stage2 attempted to identify the contents on golf course service quality through open questionnaires from 30 experts in analyzing subsidiary variable factors of stage1 golf course service quality; stage3 drew the factors which more than 20 persons (66.7%) of the expert group responded through open questionnaire surveys; stage4 added the factors which share some commonalities with those factors founded at stage3 but also addressed additional opinions from the experts, and drew the first 52 service items of preliminary golf courses, through correction and complement a little. This study also recruited 10 male and 10 female golfers who have longer-than 10 years of golfing experience to verify the first 52 preliminary items in terms of wording, structure, and meaning. As a result of this process, 12 items were deleted.
This authors and seven doctoral degree holders in the area of sport management investigated validity evidence of 40 items while screening possible error in comprehension through their subjective judgements. As a result of this verification process, four experts (57.1%) decided to combine 2 items into 1 item in the variables of ‘course management’, ‘reservation’ and ‘caddy’. This study drew 40 item descriptions at last through adding 3 items in ‘course management’, based on the previous process and seven experts’ opinions.
In addition, this study selected 20 persons as P-sample, membership and public golf course users and classified 13 persons’ materials, according to Q-sorting chart classification method, at Q-sorting chart except 7 persons’ materials, because responders did not respond to the items faithfully and the reliability was found to be low. The principal component analysis through QUANL. PC program was performed after coding the scores offered in sorted distribution chart from Q-sample accordingly.
Through the processes, this study acquired the following results, classified as typeⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ. TypeⅠ is ‘aspect of cost and course management’, typeⅡ ‘aspect of facility and cost management’, typeⅢ ‘aspect of cost management’. On the basis of these findings, this study confirmed the affirmative service quality enhancement factors of golf courses in common among respective types. First, as for ‘cost management’, when customers use Teeing grounds, they should be able to use natural grass teeing ground. Moreover, hazards including sand bunker and water hazard has to be arranged properly in accordance with the formative beauty of courses. As for ‘cost’, when a rounding stops, due to a bad climate green fee has to be refunded. At last, as for ‘caddy’, caddies have to be accustomed to various aspects of golf courses arrangement, and have to be readily prepared for rounding operation in detail. These opinions were compounded in common.