Fancher Golf Center As a boy growing up in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Brian Fancher dreamed of being a professional golfer. His remarkable talent prompted his teammates to select him as captain of the high school golf team during both his junior and senior years, and he led the team to many tournament championships. This success did not go unnoticed by college coaches, and he was offered scholarships by the University of Texas at Austin, UCLA, Stanford, and Pepperdine University. He initially planned to accept Stanford’s offer because the school has an impeccable academic reputation and is the alma mater of his idol Tiger Woods. However, when visiting Pepperdine’s mountain-side campus, with its breathtak- ing view of the Pacific Ocean, Brian knew he was des- tined to spend his college days in Malibu, California. Brian’s freshman year at Pepperdine was unremarkable, but he emerged as the team’s star during his sophomore year. During his last two seasons, he experienced enough success to begin believing his dream of a professional career might actually come to fruition. After graduation, he pursued his goal by entering the PGA Qualifying Tournament (‘‘Q-school’’) but failed to qualify. Dejected, he returned home to Virginia and worked for a year as an assistant teaching professional at a local country club. The following year, his fortunes changed when he qualified at the PGA Q-school and received his PGA tour card. In his first season on the tour, he missed the cut at several tournaments but managed to earn enough money to keep his playing card. His financial situation changed the next season when in the first tournament he lost a sudden death playoff, came in second place, and earned $631,700. He had six more top-10 finishes, earning him a total of $2,243,500, before tragedy struck. While playing the first round of a tournament, Brian’s club caught a tree root during his downswing, resulting in serious wrist and shoulder injuries. Surgeons were able to repair the damage but informed Brian that his professional playing days had come to an end. Feeling confused by what had transpired, Brian returned home to seek solace and counsel from his family. Shortly thereafter, his mother experienced serious health problems; this made him decide to remain in his hometown. Despite his bitter disappointment, Brian still loved golf and wanted to earn his living by being involved in the game in some way. Several friends urged him to begin offering golf lessons, but his year at the country club made him realize he wanted more inde- pendence than that job offered. Based on discussions 1 This case was prepared by Jon R. Austin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, Cedarville University, 251 North Main Street, Cedarville, OH 45314. with people in the community, he began to believe there might be an opportunity to invest what remained of his PGA Tour earnings to create a ‘‘Golf Center’’ in Harrisonburg. The concept was to have state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor training facilities. Initially, he would provide all of the golf instruction, but more instructors would be hired as finances permitted. The Fancher Golf Center would also offer high-end golf equipment along with custom club-fitting services. Brian felt confident he could create excitement and interest by periodically inviting friends from the PGA tour to come to the center for playing exhibitions, question-and-answer forums, and autograph sessions. Harrisonburg, Virginia, is a quiet, unassuming community of approximately 41,000 people located in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. A central fixture in town is James Madison University (JMU), which enrolls over 16,000 students. There are a few smaller commun- ities in the immediate vicinity, but Brian and his associ- ates were hopeful the city of Staunton, because its population of roughly 24,000 has a similar demographic profile as Harrisonburg, might be a viable secondary market even though it is located 25 miles to the south. To obtain assistance in testing the viability of his business idea, Brian contacted the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center which is housed at JMU. The center arranged for JMU students in a marketing research course to conduct some research on his behalf. Discussions between Brian, the marketing research professor, and students produced the following list of research problems: Among the populations of (1) permanent Harrisonburg residents 18–70 years of age, (2) JMU students, and (3) Staunton residents 18–70 years of age: A. Determine the percentage of consumers who clas- sify themselves as serious golfers. B. Determine the frequency of playing golf during the spring (March through May), summer (June through August), and fall (September through November) seasons. C. Measure the level of satisfaction with current playing abilities. D. Measure the level of satisfaction with current (a) golf instruction opportunities, (b) high-end golf equipment sources, and (c) club-fitting services in the area. E. Measure evaluations of the proposed golf center concept. case 15 555 F. Measure intentions to utilize (a) the golf instruction services or (b) club-fitting services if the proposed golf center were opened. The marketing research professor divided the class into three teams. Each team conducted a study that addressed all of the research objectives for one of the three target populations. Presented next are brief descriptions of how the teams collected the data for their studies. Team 1 This team focused on the ‘‘permanent Harrisonburg residents 18–70 years of age’’ population. Using the intercept method, they administered a survey at Valley Mall. Of the 613 shoppers they approached, 227 were within the designated age range, and 143 of these shoppers agreed to complete the survey. Team 2 This team conducted a study of the JMU student population. Because two members had extensive experience building Web pages, the group decided to take an innovative approach. They obtained the e-mail distribution lists for 12 campus organizations and sent an e-mail mes- sage to every fourth person on each list (a total of 2,219 messages) asking the person to visit the team’s Web site and complete an online survey. Using this approach, the team obtained 392 completed questionnaires. Team 3 This team examined the ‘‘Staunton residents 18–70 years of age’’ population. Because Staunton is 25 miles away, the team decided to conduct telephone interviews. Moreover, the Small Business Development Center agreed to pay for the long-distance calls as long as they were made from the center’s telephone bank. The team members worked at the center during normal hours of operation (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Using systematic sampling, and the Staunton telephone directory as a sampling frame, they made 472 calls and obtained 96 completed surveys.
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