The Darrell Survey Company

The Darrell Survey Company is an independent group that tracks golf equipment use.[1]

History

The Darrell Survey was founded by its namesake Eddie Darrell, who began the survey in 1932.[2] Initially, Darrell would follow the PGA Tour around, monitoring the use of certain brands of golf equipment.[3] Specifically, Darrell recorded what balls and clubs were being used by every player on tour.[4] He operated the survey with his wife until his death in 1972,[5] after which his wife Virginia took over the survey on her own. She ran it until 1980 when it was purchased by Susan Naylor and John Minkley, expanding the company to two offices—one in Los Angeles and one in Atlanta.[3]

Upon their purchase they named their new acquisition The Darrell Survey Company.[6] They also expanded the company’s research into private golf clubs and other non-tour locations, by polling golfers about both the equipment they used and their perceptions of other brands.[5] Aside from Naylor and Minkley, the company uses part-time surveyors to cover the professional golf tours and other events.[7]

The Survey

The Darrell Survey is the official industry listing of professional golf equipment used during PGA tour events,[8] in addition to the Buy.com Tour, Japanese PGA tour,[2] JLPGA,[9] LPGA, and Senior PGA tours, in addition to major amateur events. The company has representatives at the tees of each event to evaluate which equipment is being used by each player. Following each event, the results of the survey are sent to Darrell Survey’s clients as customer research data. Customers are allowed to use the numbers available in the data, but not the names of the players surveyed.[3] Subscribing to the Darrell Survey allows golf equipment companies to cite Darrell Survey statistics in their advertisements or other literature,[2] as their data is considered the industry benchmark.[10] The Darrell Survey also allows companies to monitor the players they are sponsoring to ensure they are using their sponsored equipment on tour.[11]

In cases where players do not allow access to their bags, surveyors watch their play in order to ascertain the brands,[12] however most players have their bags physically checked. Items tracked by the Survey include balls, clubs, golf bags, clothing, shoes, spikes, gloves, hats, and grip type, among others.[2] The Darrell Survey also tracks logo visibility over the course of each event.[5] In addition to being passed along to golf industry companies, statistics are also released publicly by the Darrell Survey in the form of industry trends reports.[13]

Almanac

The Darrell Survey covers around 4,000 golfers and 75 courses per year. The statistics derived from each event are compiled annually into The Darrell Survey Golf Equipment Almanac, which covers every product noted over the year.[2][14]

References

  1. ↑ Bertie Charles Forbes (2006). "Darrel Survey". Forbes. p. 182.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Where do those statistics used in club and ball ads come from?".
  3. 1 2 3 RUDY, MATTHEW. "THE LAST WORD THE HUMBLE DARRELL SURVEY IS GOSPEL TO THE GOLF INDUSTRY". Sports Illustrated.
  4. ↑ "The Darrell Survey".
  5. 1 2 3 "darrell-survey-validates-claims".
  6. ↑ "Darrell Survey Co: Company Profile".
  7. ↑ "Her Bag is Knowing who is using what".
  8. ↑ Inc, Kiplinger Washington Editors (1 December 1997). "Kiplinger's Personal Finance". Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Fujikura Golf shafts played to win the Insperity Invitational, World Ladies JLPGA Championship and Yokohama LPGA Tire Classic".
  10. ↑ Hamm, John (11 January 2011). "Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership". John Wiley & Sons – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Fenton, Frank; Grimes, David; Konetzni, Al (1 January 2003). "They Called It Golf Because Flog Was Already Taken". Pineapple Press Inc – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ "The Official Site of the U.S. Open Championship Conducted By The USGA - News & Photos".
  13. ↑ MULLIGAN, THOMAS S. (22 May 1995). "Southern California Careers / Dream Jobs : One Professional Golf Junkie Who's Having a Ball" – via LA Times.
  14. ↑ Feherty, David (17 March 2003). "An Idiot for All Seasons: A David Feherty Collection". Black Irish Entertainment LLC – via Google Books.
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