A data scientist analyzed the names of 16,300 courses and clubs in the U.S. and found that “nature is a recurring theme”—so recurring, in fact, that nearly 1,000 of the courses use “hill” or “hills,” and 38 use “Rolling Hills.” “I suppose the goal is to make you relaxed,” the scientists said after seeing the prevalence of other “nature words” on his Top Ten list.
Seth Kadish is a data scientist living in Portland, Ore. who maintains a blog, Vizual Statistix (http://vizual-statistix.tumblr.com), that he describes as a “product of my passion for data visualization.” The blog presents analyses and graphics for a variety of subjects—and recently, after being introduced to golf by friends, Kadish decided to analyze a database of 16,300 golf courses and clubs in the U.S., to determine which words and phrases appear most frequently in their names.
While this might seem to be an undertaking by someone with entirely too much time on his hands, the results of Kadish’s research, presented at http://vizual-statistix.tumblr.com/post/119370432846/ill-be-visiting-phoenix-soon-with-some-friends, could actually prove useful to those in club management and operations who might be seeking to open a new property, or rebrand an existing one, with a distinctive name. Additionally, avoiding commonly used words in the digital age can help to optimize a club’s recognition and prominence in search results.
Kadish’s analysis showed that “nature is a recurring theme” in golf course names, with “creeks, lakes and valleys among the most used in nomenclature.”
Kadish found that “968 courses used ‘hill’ or ‘hills,’ making it the most popular nature word in golf course names. The most common nature phrase was ‘rolling hills,’ which occurred 38 times.”
The full list of the ten most commonly used words in club names, according to Kadish’s research, included hill, creek, lake, valley, oak, ridge, pine, spring, river and meadow. (When counting single-word frequency, Kadish explained, he removed “small words and the most common words that are in almost every name, [such as] golf, course, country, club [and] links.”)
The list of the most commonly used naming phrases that emerged from Kadish’s research included: Rolling Hills, Hidden Valley, Indian Hills, Twin Lakes, Deer Run, Green Valley, Valley View, Willow Creek, Pine Hills and Spring Valley.
“I’ve always found naming conventions for golf courses to be a bit ridiculous, but I suppose the goal is to make you feel relaxed,” Kadish commented, after seeing the results of his research.
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