Golf.com’s resort rankings come from votes. Simple enough concept.
But some could argue (and likely win such a debate) that a social user clicking “like” or “follow” on a resort’s account is a sort of vote as well.
The Question
So, within that high-level theory, is there any correlation between the Top 10 resorts according to Golf Magazine and where resorts find themselves in the social rankings for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram?
While I might dig deeper on this later, I decided to start with a simple analysis to see where it would take me.
Resort (by Golf.com Rank) | Facebook Rank | Twitter Rank | Instagram Rank | Avg Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Broadmoor | 26 | 22 | 24 | 24 |
The American Club | 12 | 41 | 45 | 33 |
The Greenbrier | 22 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
Bandon Dunes | 71 | 12 | 14 | 32 |
Kiawah Island | 56 | 31 | 32 | 40 |
Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation | 94 | – | – | 94 |
Pebble Beach | 6 | – | 23 | 15 |
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai | 72 | 16 | 18 | 35 |
Pinehurst | 36 | 9 | 10 | 18 |
Sea Island | 63 | 26 | 8 | 32 |
So, was there a correlation? Well, no. Sorry to disappoint, but no sense reading into something that’s not there. I did notice a few things, however.
#1) None Averaged Top 10
Averaging out the ranks, I was really surprised that none of these resorts sat in the top 10 on social. A.K.A., big fan bases are not necessarily a reflection of quality.
#2) Only Facebook Ubiquitous
True it was nearly 100% for the other networks, but Facebook still remains the go-to network for resorts. We’ll see if anything changes in that regard over the next couple years as algorithms and volume continue to change that landscape.
#3) Lack of Consistency
Even between networks, I was surprised to see such massive differences between ranks. The Broadmoor was closest to a flat line, but nobody else was anywhere near one.
Bottom line, interesting analsysis but like all digs into the data there were no guarantees of any specific insight.
Maybe I’ll go all-in and do the entire list when they publish the next round. Maybe…
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