Slope/Rating - How are they calculated?

Sylla Legend
Go to Last Reply 91 Views 6 Replies 1 Like
One of the course I played this week-end has a mean little par 3. Check the photo. If you miss left or short, you end up in the ravine and it's impossible to climb back. If you miss right you're in the mountain. And if you go too long you immediately hit the trees. Yet this par 3 is deemed the easiest on the course from the white tees (roughly 150 yards). How is that possible?? All the courses I played this week-end were mountain courses, which means trouble :P They go up and down and left and right. There are few flat spots. And yet they're deemed easier than one of the courses I play on a regular basis (Les Quatre Domaines) which is in my view a lot easier. Granted, there might be more sand traps at the Quatre Domaines, but it's fairly flat and you see where you're going. How come? Who calculates the slope and rating? And how do they do it? Is there a precise formula? Or do they just send golfers play the course and see the end score... I find that the slope/rating doesn't adequately reflect the difficulty of a course. Have you ever played courses where the slope/rating seemed really off to you?
cogolfer1 LowIndex
# 1 5/2/2010 5:34:30 PM
I'm not positive about this but here it goes. The course rating is determined by what a 0 handicap(or maybe a professional, I'm not sure) should shoot on the course. Each hole's handicap is determined by if an 18 handicap should par it every time. I know that was confusing but here's a better example. Let's say I'm an 11 handicap which I wish I was. That means I should make par or better every time on the 11th, 12th, 13, and so-on holes. As far as slope goes I have no idea. I jnow it's measured between 55 and 155 with 55 the easiest and 155 the hardest but i don't know how that's calculated or how they got those numbers in the first place.
Scola1234 Professional Champion
# 2 5/2/2010 5:40:30 PM
The local USGA golf association that the course is in determines Slope/Rating.....I live in Connecticut.....The CSGA (Connecticut State Golf Association) determines the slope/ratings of courses in our State. They physically go to each course and from what I understand update it periodically.
MikeNomgi Professional Champion
# 3 5/2/2010 5:57:42 PM
I think we all have a hole or two at our home courses where we wonder what the rating team was thinking when they assigned a difficulty rank to a hole. Here's some info which may answer some of your questions. Course rating and slope rating are calculated for a course on the basis of a visit to the course by a USGA or State Golf Assoc. rating team. The rating team will spend time with the course's staff going over the course and will spend a lot of time on the course taking measurements of various things. The USGA recommends that the rating team play the course either before or after the rating visit, too. Based on the information gleaned during the visit(s), the course rating and course slope will be calculated, certified by the appropriate overseeing golf associations and given to the club, which then posts the ratings on its scorecard and elsewhere. The rating team will go over the course with an eye to how both scratch golfers and bogey golfers will play it. A scratch golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer who hits his drive 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two; or a female golfer who hits her drives 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two (and, of course, plays to scratch). A bogey golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer with a handicap index of 17.5 to 22.4, who hits his drives 200 yards and can reach a 370-yard hole in two; and a female golfer with a handicap index of 21.5 to 26.4, who hits her drives 150 yards and can reach a 280-yard hole in two. So, for example, on a 400-yard hole, the team will go 200 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a bogey golfer; and 250 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a scratch golfer. What obstacles were encountered along the way? What is the state of the fairway at each spot for each golfer? What angle is left to the green? What obstacles still away? How far is the approach shot for each? What is the height and reach of trees? And so on. Obstacle stroke value is a numerical rating of the difficulty presented by obstacles on the course. The course is rated in 10 categories: topography; easy or difficulty of hitting the fairway; propability of hitting the green from the fairway landing area; difficulty of bunkers and probability of hitting into them; probability of hitting out of bounds; how much water will come into play; how trees affect play; speed and contouring of the greens; and the psychological effect of all these things. The rating team will look at all these things for both scratch golfers and bogey golfers, and from every set of tees. And then follow the USGA's four formulas (male scratch golfer, female scratch golfer, male bogey golfer, female bogey golfer), some adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, and produce its numbers.
T LAVAN SHOEMAKER Professional Champion
# 4 5/2/2010 7:49:39 PM
I think we all have a hole or two at our home courses where we wonder what the rating team was thinking when they assigned a difficulty rank to a hole. Here's some info which may answer some of your questions. Course rating and slope rating are calculated for a course on the basis of a visit to the course by a USGA or State Golf Assoc. rating team. The rating team will spend time with the course's staff going over the course and will spend a lot of time on the course taking measurements of various things. The USGA recommends that the rating team play the course either before or after the rating visit, too. Based on the information gleaned during the visit(s), the course rating and course slope will be calculated, certified by the appropriate overseeing golf associations and given to the club, which then posts the ratings on its scorecard and elsewhere. The rating team will go over the course with an eye to how both scratch golfers and bogey golfers will play it. A scratch golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer who hits his drive 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two; or a female golfer who hits her drives 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two (and, of course, plays to scratch). A bogey golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer with a handicap index of 17.5 to 22.4, who hits his drives 200 yards and can reach a 370-yard hole in two; and a female golfer with a handicap index of 21.5 to 26.4, who hits her drives 150 yards and can reach a 280-yard hole in two. So, for example, on a 400-yard hole, the team will go 200 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a bogey golfer; and 250 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a scratch golfer. What obstacles were encountered along the way? What is the state of the fairway at each spot for each golfer? What angle is left to the green? What obstacles still away? How far is the approach shot for each? What is the height and reach of trees? And so on. Obstacle stroke value is a numerical rating of the difficulty presented by obstacles on the course. The course is rated in 10 categories: topography; easy or difficulty of hitting the fairway; propability of hitting the green from the fairway landing area; difficulty of bunkers and probability of hitting into them; probability of hitting out of bounds; how much water will come into play; how trees affect play; speed and contouring of the greens; and the psychological effect of all these things. The rating team will look at all these things for both scratch golfers and bogey golfers, and from every set of tees. And then follow the USGA's four formulas (male scratch golfer, female scratch golfer, male bogey golfer, female bogey golfer), some adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, and produce its numbers. So in simple terms, pure voodoo! haha Good job.
MikeNomgi Professional Champion
# 5 5/2/2010 9:10:03 PM
So in simple terms, pure voodoo! haha Good job. That about sums it up perfectly.
Sylla Legend
# 6 5/3/2010 6:52:51 AM
Waow, thanks for the detailed answer! Is the committee allowed to drink when doing their evaluation?? For one of the courses I played this week-end, I should have played from the whites (5,758 yards) to play the exact same slope/rating of the Quatre Domaines (about 5,300 yards from the red tees). I guess the committee who evaluated the course liked the beer cart girl too much ;)

Legend

91 Views 6 Replies 1 Like

One of the course I played this week-end has a mean little par 3. Check the photo. If you miss left or short, you end up in the ravine and it's impossible to climb back. If you miss right you're in the mountain. And if you go too long you immediately hit the trees. Yet this par 3 is deemed the easiest on the course from the white tees (roughly 150 yards). How is that possible??

All the courses I played this week-end were mountain courses, which means trouble :P They go up and down and left and right. There are few flat spots. And yet they're deemed easier than one of the courses I play on a regular basis (Les Quatre Domaines) which is in my view a lot easier. Granted, there might be more sand traps at the Quatre Domaines, but it's fairly flat and you see where you're going. How come? Who calculates the slope and rating? And how do they do it? Is there a precise formula? Or do they just send golfers play the course and see the end score... I find that the slope/rating doesn't adequately reflect the difficulty of a course.

Have you ever played courses where the slope/rating seemed really off to you?

cogolfer1

LowIndex

# 1 5/2/2010 5:34:30 PM

I'm not positive about this but here it goes. The course rating is determined by what a 0 handicap(or maybe a professional, I'm not sure) should shoot on the course. Each hole's handicap is determined by if an 18 handicap should par it every time. I know that was confusing but here's a better example. Let's say I'm an 11 handicap which I wish I was. That means I should make par or better every time on the 11th, 12th, 13, and so-on holes. As far as slope goes I have no idea. I jnow it's measured between 55 and 155 with 55 the easiest and 155 the hardest but i don't know how that's calculated or how they got those numbers in the first place.

Scola1234

Professional Champion

# 2 5/2/2010 5:40:30 PM

The local USGA golf association that the course is in determines Slope/Rating.....I live in Connecticut.....The CSGA (Connecticut State Golf Association) determines the slope/ratings of courses in our State. They physically go to each course and from what I understand update it periodically.

MikeNomgi

Professional Champion

# 3 5/2/2010 5:57:42 PM

I think we all have a hole or two at our home courses where we wonder what the rating team was thinking when they assigned a difficulty rank to a hole.

Here's some info which may answer some of your questions.

Course rating and slope rating are calculated for a course on the basis of a visit to the course by a USGA or State Golf Assoc. rating team.
The rating team will spend time with the course's staff going over the course and will spend a lot of time on the course taking measurements of various things. The USGA recommends that the rating team play the course either before or after the rating visit, too.

Based on the information gleaned during the visit(s), the course rating and course slope will be calculated, certified by the appropriate overseeing golf associations and given to the club, which then posts the ratings on its scorecard and elsewhere.

The rating team will go over the course with an eye to how both scratch golfers and bogey golfers will play it.

A scratch golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer who hits his drive 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two; or a female golfer who hits her drives 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two (and, of course, plays to scratch).

A bogey golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer with a handicap index of 17.5 to 22.4, who hits his drives 200 yards and can reach a 370-yard hole in two; and a female golfer with a handicap index of 21.5 to 26.4, who hits her drives 150 yards and can reach a 280-yard hole in two.

So, for example, on a 400-yard hole, the team will go 200 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a bogey golfer; and 250 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a scratch golfer. What obstacles were encountered along the way? What is the state of the fairway at each spot for each golfer? What angle is left to the green? What obstacles still away? How far is the approach shot for each? What is the height and reach of trees? And so on.

Obstacle stroke value is a numerical rating of the difficulty presented by obstacles on the course. The course is rated in 10 categories: topography; easy or difficulty of hitting the fairway; propability of hitting the green from the fairway landing area; difficulty of bunkers and probability of hitting into them; probability of hitting out of bounds; how much water will come into play; how trees affect play; speed and contouring of the greens; and the psychological effect of all these things.

The rating team will look at all these things for both scratch golfers and bogey golfers, and from every set of tees. And then follow the USGA's four formulas (male scratch golfer, female scratch golfer, male bogey golfer, female bogey golfer), some adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, and produce its numbers.

T LAVAN SHOEMAKER

Professional Champion

# 4 5/2/2010 7:49:39 PM

I think we all have a hole or two at our home courses where we wonder what the rating team was thinking when they assigned a difficulty rank to a hole.

Here's some info which may answer some of your questions.

Course rating and slope rating are calculated for a course on the basis of a visit to the course by a USGA or State Golf Assoc. rating team.
The rating team will spend time with the course's staff going over the course and will spend a lot of time on the course taking measurements of various things. The USGA recommends that the rating team play the course either before or after the rating visit, too.

Based on the information gleaned during the visit(s), the course rating and course slope will be calculated, certified by the appropriate overseeing golf associations and given to the club, which then posts the ratings on its scorecard and elsewhere.

The rating team will go over the course with an eye to how both scratch golfers and bogey golfers will play it.

A scratch golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer who hits his drive 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two; or a female golfer who hits her drives 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two (and, of course, plays to scratch).

A bogey golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer with a handicap index of 17.5 to 22.4, who hits his drives 200 yards and can reach a 370-yard hole in two; and a female golfer with a handicap index of 21.5 to 26.4, who hits her drives 150 yards and can reach a 280-yard hole in two.

So, for example, on a 400-yard hole, the team will go 200 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a bogey golfer; and 250 yards down the fairway to analyze the landing area for a scratch golfer. What obstacles were encountered along the way? What is the state of the fairway at each spot for each golfer? What angle is left to the green? What obstacles still away? How far is the approach shot for each? What is the height and reach of trees? And so on.

Obstacle stroke value is a numerical rating of the difficulty presented by obstacles on the course. The course is rated in 10 categories: topography; easy or difficulty of hitting the fairway; propability of hitting the green from the fairway landing area; difficulty of bunkers and probability of hitting into them; probability of hitting out of bounds; how much water will come into play; how trees affect play; speed and contouring of the greens; and the psychological effect of all these things.

The rating team will look at all these things for both scratch golfers and bogey golfers, and from every set of tees. And then follow the USGA's four formulas (male scratch golfer, female scratch golfer, male bogey golfer, female bogey golfer), some adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, and produce its numbers.

So in simple terms, pure voodoo! haha
Good job.

MikeNomgi

Professional Champion

# 5 5/2/2010 9:10:03 PM

So in simple terms, pure voodoo! haha
Good job.

That about sums it up perfectly.

Sylla

Legend

# 6 5/3/2010 6:52:51 AM

Waow, thanks for the detailed answer! Is the committee allowed to drink when doing their evaluation?? For one of the courses I played this week-end, I should have played from the whites (5,758 yards) to play the exact same slope/rating of the Quatre Domaines (about 5,300 yards from the red tees). I guess the committee who evaluated the course liked the beer cart girl too much ;)

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