title: On the unreliability of golf scores for professional golfers: a case for restriction of range.
abstract: This study investigated whether the unreliability of golf scores for professional golfers can be accounted for by restriction of range. Reliability estimates for hole-to-hole scores were calculated from data from 2679 players on the PGA Tour, 32 senior club professionals, and 62 men and 49 women amateurs who had won either their club or course championship. Reliability estimates were small and negative for the PGA Tour (Cronbach alphas ranging from -.31 to -.15) but mostly positive and substantially higher for senior club professionals and amateurs (Cronbach alphas ranging from -.46 to .76). It was concluded that the greater reliability of performance for senior club pros and amateurs than for PGA Tour players was due to the greater variability in skills and performance of the club professionals and amateurs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 311280, Denton, TX, USA. rdclark@unt.edu
authors.forename: Russell D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D003163:Competitive Behavior; D005260:Female; D006055:Golf; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011361:Professional Competence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results