A Discovery Project Experience: LPGA Championship
MBA Discovery Project students on the LPGA team got a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend the Chevron Championship of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
What better way to develop insights about golf fans than through firsthand experience? Yale Class of 2025 MBA students Beau Miller, Jordan Greer, Daikee Wang, and Alicia Zheng were given the opportunity to attend LPGA’s first major of the season, The Chevron Championship, from April 17 – 21st in The Woodlands, Texas, as part of their YCCI Discovery Project for the LPGA. This invaluable experience allowed them to develop first-hand insights into golf fans and the LPGA. Though they only attended the tournament on Saturday and Sunday, they were given the great opportunity to attend during the championship round and watch the legendary Nelly Korda finish in 1st place.
The team had a fantastic time getting to watch the professional players that they’ve seen in LPGA’s marketing, such as Nelly Korda, Alexis Pano, and Lydia Ko! Even more incredible was the ability to see some of the insights they’ve found in their research come to life. From the appeal of golf outfits and the elegance of the swings to the lack of crowds and the slow-moving rounds of play, many behavioral insights from both secondary research and individual interviews were on display at the tournament. Seeing these trends and others in person helped the team develop more insights for their final presentation to the LPGA. A couple of thoughts from the team:
“It was so cool to be able to watch some of the top golfers in the world compete against each other. It was a really great opportunity, since a golf tournament is something I wouldn’t do on my own accord. There really is nothing more satisfying than taking concepts from the classroom and watching them play out in real life. It makes everything that we learned in our lectures seem more tangible and impactful. It was a great way to spend a weekend!” – Alicia Zheng, MBA Class of 2025
“We’ve been so immersed in the project for the past 6 weeks, and watching it come to life was a little bit surreal. There were a lot of insights that I immediately thought of when we arrived, like the ones about how nice it was to walk around outside on a nice day or the ones about how the beauty of the course would really influence the play. These things didn’t resonate with me within the walls of Evans, but I could see all its legitimacy while on the course.” – Jordan Greer, MBA Class of 2025
“The atmosphere at the golf tournament was truly remarkable. Having read so much about professional golf tournaments, being able to attend one really gave me a deeper appreciation for not only the players but also the fans and their dedication to the sport. I had just as much fun watching the fans standing around me as I did watching the players! It was truly an unforgettable experience and has given me a new sport to consider myself a fan of.” – Beau Miller, MBA Class of 2025
“It’s so crazy to be able to see people we’ve seen on social media in real life! We were only standing five feet away from Nelly Korda, the very subject of 5 of the test images I put together. Seeing them in person really made the whole project realistic to me, instead of just theoretical assumptions based on social media posts that we found.” – Daikee Wang, MBA Class of 2025
As a cherry on top, the team had a lovely weekend exploring Houston, including trying classic Texan BBQ, visiting a charity bar, and even taking a couple of swings at the local TopGolf. There truly was no better way to begin to wrap up the YCCI project as a team! Learn more about Discovery Projects here or reach out to ycci@som.yale.edu.