The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) maintains data on performance and earnings for members of the PGA Tour. For the 2012 season Bubba Watson led all players in total driving distance, with an average of 309.2 yards per drive. Some of the factors thought to influence driving distance are club head speed, ball speed, and launch angle. For the 2012 season Bubba Watson had an average club head speed of 124.69 miles per hour, an average ball speed of 184.98 miles per hour, and an average launch angle of 8.79 degrees.
The file named PGADrivingDist contains data on total driving distance and the factors related to driving distance for 190 members of the PGA Tour (PGA Tour website, November 1, 2012). Descriptions for the variables in the data set follow.
Club Head Speed: Speed at which the club impacts the ball (mph).
Ball Speed: Peak speed of the golf ball at launch (mph).
Launch Angle: Vertical launch angle of the ball immediately after leaving the club (degrees).
Total Distance: The average number of yards per drive.
a. Develop an estimated regression equation that can be used to predict the average number of yards per drive given the club head speed.
b. Develop an estimated regression equation that can be used to predict the average number of yards per drive given the ball speed.
c. A recommendation has been made to develop an estimated regression equation that uses both club head speed and ball speed to predict the average number of yards per drive. Do you agree with this? Explain.
d. Develop an estimated regression equation that can be used to predict the average number of yards per drive given the ball speed and the launch angle.
e. Suppose a new member of the PGA Tour for 2013 has a ball speed of 170 miles per hour and a launch angle of 11 degrees. Use the estimated regression equation in part (d) to predict the average number of yards per drive for this player.