what does course rating and slope mean

What is a good course rating and slope?

The average slope rating of a golf course is typically 113. If the slope of a golf course is less than 113, the course is easier than the average golf course.

Is course rating the same as slope?

Course Ratings represent the difficulty of a golf course for the scratch player under normal conditions. Slope Ratings represent the difference in difficulty for all other players, compared to the scratch player. Course Ratings are carried out by qualified teams, and assume normal course and weather conditions.

What does the slope of a course mean?

The Course Slope predicts the difficulty of a course for a “bogey” golfer, someone who shoots 18 over par or 90. Course Slope is a number between 55 and 155, with 113 being the average. The higher the number the more difficult the course. As with course rating each set of tees will have a slope rating.Aug 13, 2015

How does course rating and slope affect handicap?

When you play a course with a Slope Rating higher than 113, your Course Handicap will be higher than your USGA Handicap Index. When you play a course with a Slope Rating lower than 113, your Course Handicap will be lower than your Handicap Index.

How good is a bogey golfer?

a bogey is viewed as a fairly bad stroke score for a professional golfer. Despite this distinction, casual players may view a bogey as an average whole if they rarely shoot par to begin with. Bogeys are better than double bogeys, triple bogeys, quadruple bogeys.

Is a 130 Slope Rating hard?

If you see a slope rating that falls anywhere in the double digits, you can expect that course to play rather easy, even for a bogey golfer. On the other hand, taking on a course with a slope rating in the 130's or 140's is going to present a serious challenge to a player with a mid or high handicap.May 11, 2016

How is a slope rating calculated?

The USGA Slope Rating is a numerical value that indicates the relative difficulty of a set of tees on a golf course for a bogey golfer in comparison to a scratch golfer. ... In order to calculate the slope rating, the difference between the bogey and scratch rating is multiplied by 5.381 for men and 4.240 for women.

What does a slope rating of 130 mean?

From Tom's tees, a slope of 130 gives him a 12 Course Handicap. Mary gets one stroke PLUS the difference between the course ratings, or 73.2 - 71.1 = 2.1. Rounded to the nearest whole number (. 5 or more is rounded up).

What does the course rating mean in golf?

The Course Rating is designed to assign a numerical value to represent the difficulty of the course for a scratch golfer. This number is calculated by measuring the fairways, inspecting the bunkers, measuring the size and contours of the greens, determining the distance to hazards and out of bounds locations, etc.Dec 13, 2018

What's my handicap if I shoot 90?

18The lower the number, the better the golfer. For example, if you typically shoot around 90 on par 72 golf courses, your golf handicap would be around 18.Aug 27, 2021

What is a good handicap golf?

A good golf handicap is ten or less. With a handicap index of ten or less, you will generally shoot somewhere around 82. Shooing in the low 80s is better than average but certainly not good enough to be considered a scratch player.Mar 22, 2021

Does higher slope rating mean harder course?

The higher the slope number, the harder the course is for the bogey golfer relative to the difficulty of the course for the scratch golfer. Slope numbers can range anywhere between 55 and 155 with the average slope in the United States being 120.

What is the average slope rating?

The average slope rating is 120, according to Dean Knuth, also known as “the pope of slope,” the man who invented the system in 1982. In conclusion, course ratings and slope ratings are useful and objective measures of golf course difficulty.

What is USGA rating?

“A USGA Course Rating is the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions. It is expressed as the number of strokes taken to one decimal place (72.5), and is based on yardage and other obstacles to the extent that they affect the scoring difficulty of the scratch golfer.”

What makes golf different from other sports?

One thing that makes golf different than other sports is the “playing field.”. Whether long or short, hilly or flat, no two golf courses are alike. And while they’re all challenging in their own way, some golf courses are harder than others. In fact, some courses are like childhood bullies who will steal your lunch money ...

What is scratch golf?

And what is a scratch golfer? According to the USGA, a scratch golfer is a man or woman who can play to a course handicap of zero on all rated golf courses. In others words, he or she can shoot a score that nearly matches the course rating from his or her designated tees.

Where is Neil Sagebiel?

Neil Sagebiel is a golf writer and author of two golf books published by St. Martin's Press, THE LONGEST SHOT and DRAW IN THE DUNES. He lives in Floyd, Virginia.

What is a Course Rating?

This scorecard shows the course rating (first number) and slope rating (second number) for each set of tees at a course.

What is a Slope Rating?

While the course rating indicates the difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer, the slope rating, by contrast, indicates how difficult the course should be for a bogey golfer (or someone who averages +18 for 18 holes). Also unlike course rating, slope values can range from 55 to 155 with 113 being the average.

Why Have Two Numbers?

As you may have figured out already, golf is a difficult game and contains a very wide range of golfers, each with very different levels of skill. In the mid 80’s the USGA started to catch on to this big divide between scratch or professional golfers and mid to high handicap golfers.

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Changes in green roll, topography, or other obstacles can dramatically change the difficulty of a hole or course.

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Although it might not be the most pressing matter for some golfers, understanding how course and slope ratings work is sure to only help you understand the game better in the long run.

What is the course rating

To be oversimplified, the definition that we all know about course rating is that it is the expected number of strokes that a scratch or professional golfer should take to complete the game. Most of the time, it is near the par score.

What is slope rating

To be simplified, if the course rating is the term that determines the difficulty level of a course to the scratch golfers, then the slope rating is going to notify us about the difficulty level of a course to the bogey golfers. Or, it is the expected number of strokes that a bogey golfer should take to complete the game.

Some of the important definitions to understand the rating

In case you don’t know the definition of the par golfer/scratch golfer or bogey golfer, the rating system may not make any sense to you. Let’s have a look at the definition of both these two terms to understand the rating system better.

The slope is not the measurement of the course difficulty

This is the most common misconception that most of us keep in mind thinking that the slope rating actually determines the difficulty of the course. But, in reality, that is not the case at all. Down below is three examples that will make it clear for you to understand.

How to calculate the slope rating

According to the rules and regulations of the USGA, there are two procedures to measure the slope rating. The first is for the men and the second one is for the women.

How the USGA do the rating

It requires a long time processing. USGA tracks more than 100 rounds of game in a single course of different tees both of the bogey golfers and scratch golfers. Be keeping all the information in the computer database, they do the actual calculation.

What is a course rating?

Course rating is a figure that indicates the difficulty of a golf course to a golfer who averages even par on a round of 18. For instance, a course rating of 72 would portend that a "scratch golfer" would shoot 72 on that particular course.

What does slope mean in golf?

Course slope is a figure that indicates the difficulty of a course in relation to a golfer who averages a bogey on every hole, and therefore, averages 18-over par on any given round. For instance, a course with a slope of 90 would indicate that an even-par golfer would shoot 72, while a golfer who bogeyed every hole would shoot 90.

What is a golfer's handicap?

Handicap is a number assigned to a golfer, indicating the number of strokes over par they are on an average round of golf. For instance, a golfer with an 18 handicap would typically shoot 18-over par during a round of 18 holes. On a course with a course rating of 72, this golfer would be expected to shoot 90.

What is course slope?

Course Slope is a creation of The United States Golf Association and has been licensed to the Royal Canadian Golf Association. Courses outside of the United States and Canada (and their protectorates) will probably not have a Slope rating.

What is a course rating?

The Course Rating is a number, close to par for the course, and is expressed with a single decimal digit. For example: If par for a course is 72, it's Course Rating might be 71.4. Rating values go up with difficulty. Actually, for any given golf course, you can expect to see three (or even more) values for the Course Rating.

What is slope rating in golf?

Slope rating (a term trademarked by the United States Golf Association) is a measurement of the difficulty of a golf course for bogey golfers relative to the course rating.

What is the role of slope in golf?

The most important role of a slope is leveling the playing field for players of different skill levels. For example, let's say Player A and Player B average 85 strokes each for 18 holes. But Player A's average is established on a very difficult course (say, a slope rating of 150), while Player B's average is established on a much easier course (say, a slope rating of 105). If handicaps were simply estimates of golfers' average scores, then these two players would have the same handicap index. But Player A is clearly the better golfer, and in a match between the two Player B would clearly need some strokes.

Who is Brent Kelley?

Brent Kelley is an award-winning sports journalist and golf expert with over 30 years in print and online journalism. Slope rating (a term trademarked by the United States Golf Association) is a measurement of the difficulty of a golf course for bogey golfers relative to the course rating.

What Is A Course Rating?

What Is A Slope Rating?

• While the course rating indicates the difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer, the slope rating, by contrast, indicates how difficult the course should be for a bogey golfer (or someone who averages +18 for 18 holes). Also unlike course rating, slope values can range from 55 to 155 with 113 being the average. Now, although you might be thinking that slope ratings work similarly to …

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Why Have Two numbers?

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