However, many golfers, particularly those new to the sport, are unsure of what these terms mean and how they impact the game. Fortunately, this explanation is rather simple. 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.
Most course ratings range from the upper 60s to the mid-70s. Course rating systems are in use around the world by many different golf authorities. For example, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the handicapping authority known as CONGU issues "Standard Scratch Scores" as a degree-of-difficulty rating for golf courses.
While the course rating tells you how difficult a track is for a scratch player, the slope tells you the relative difficulty of that same course for a bogey golfer. Sounds simple, right?
A course rating of 74.8 is pretty stiff, but there are no hard-and-fast parameters for how high or low course rating can go. Most course ratings range from the upper 60s to the mid-70s.
The Course Rating is calculated from the effective playing length and obstacle factors for 9 or 18 designated holes. The Course Rating is expressed in strokes to one decimal point and represents the expected score for a scratch player. The Bogey Rating represents the expected score for a bogey player.
Official World Golf RankingRANKRANK LAST WEEKPLAYER NAME11Scottie Scheffler22Jon Rahm36Patrick Cantlay43Cameron Smith52 more rows
From Tom's tees, a slope of 130 gives him a 12 Course Handicap.
Course Rating indicates the difficulty of a course for a “par” or scratch golfer. For example, if a course has a par of 72, the Course Rating might be 71.4. This is the score the scratch golfer is expected to shoot on the course. The number goes up with the difficulty of the course.
The 2022 Masters Tournament witnessed Tiger Woods making a comeback after more than a year. Although he couldn't win the tournament, he did finish all four rounds, which made his OWGR and FedEx rankings shoot up. Woods currently ranks at 745th position on the Official World Golf Rankings.
Example: Johann's favorite club was his three wood/3 wood. Three-Ball a Match Play format where three players play against each other, so each player is playing two matches at the same time. In a Three-ball each player plays his own ball and has a match going with each of the other two players in the group.
Augusta National Golf ClubClub informationPar72Length7,510 yards (6,870 m)Course rating78.1 (unofficial)Slope rating137 (unofficial)17 more rows
What Is A Good Golf Handicap? 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.
A par-72 course that is easy might have a course rating of 68.9; one that is difficult might have a course rating of 74.5. That means that a scratch golfer should be expected to average 68.9 strokes in his better rounds at the easier course; and 74.5 at the more difficult one.
What is a hard slope rating? If we know that the average slope rating of a golf course is 113, we can deduce that any golf course with a slope rating higher than 113 is more difficult than the average course. Don't be intimidated if you see a slope rating that is above 113.
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.
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.
USGA Course Rating is a numerical value given to each set of tee boxes at a golf course to approximate the number of strokes it should take a scratch golfer to complete the course. Course rating is a very important part of the USGA Handicap System and is used in calculating a golfer's handicap index.
USGA Course Ratings should be updated (through a re-rating) every 10 years (or in five years for a newly built course), and when a course undergoes renovations that result in significant changes.
At least a few of a course's tees should be rated separately for men and for women, because men and women will post different scores playing from the same set of tees. For example, the forward tees might be rated 67.5 for men and 71.5 for women. The ratings are determined when a golf course requests to be rated (and pays the fee).
McCormack published his rankings from 1968 to 1985 in his book “The World of Professional Golf Annual.”. Today, the rankings are issued weekly.
Origin. The official rankings began to be published in 1986. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews devised the system as a more equitable way to select players to be invited to the British Open. The rankings were inspired by an earlier unofficial ranking system developed by sports agent Mark McCormack, whose clients included Arnold Palmer.
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.
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.
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. Meanwhile, a golfer with a 20 handicap would be expected to shoot 92 on this same course.
Course Rating. Course Rating indicates the difficulty of a course for a “par” or scratch golfer. For example, if a course has a par of 72, the Course Rating might be 71.4. This is the score the scratch golfer is expected to shoot on the course. The number goes up with the difficulty of the course.
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. For example, the blue tees might be 123, the white tees 119, and the red tees 114.
So while the par golfer will still shoot 72 on the second course, the bogey golfer will have a score above 90.
The second course is also rated at 72 but has a slope of 135. The increased Course Slope could be a result of the length of the course. A longer course can wreak havoc on a bogey golfer. He is hitting long irons or woods into most greens, which will usually result in a missed green.
Every time you turn in a score you are required to record the Course Rating and Slope for the course and set of tees you played. Many golfers are familiar with the terms Course Rating and Slope, but don’t really know what they mean.
The course rated at 72 with a slope of 113 is probably not a long course. Or maybe it has wide fairways and with few hazards. So the par golfer still shoots par on this course and the bogey golfer shoots 90. The second course is also rated at 72 but has a slope of 135.
Based on those numbers, a scratch golfer is considered capable of reaching a 470-yard hole in two shots.
One of those is how far they hit the ball. For rating purposes, the USGA system assumes that scratch golfers fly their drives an average of 225 yards, with 25 yards of roll. They carry their second shots an average of 200 yards, with 20 yards of roll. A bogey golfer, on the other hand, averages ...
A U.S. Open course is tough by any measure. The measure the United States Golf Association uses is the course and slope rating system, which assigns two different numbers meaning two different things. While the course rating tells you how difficult a track is for a scratch player, the slope tells you the relative difficulty ...
The United States Golf Association established the average slope rating to 113, but it has later increased to about 120 as there aren’t many 18-hole golf courses with slope ratings set that low. As has been observed, most golf courses worldwide have average slope ratings of about 120.
Thus, the slope number converts a golfer’s handicap into a course handicap. In this way, it is made sure that a bogey golfer is allowed to play at an equal level to a scratch golfer, and it helps them obtain enough strokes from the same set of tees. This is the mathematical formula of how it is derived:
What is USGA Golf Course Rating and Who Rates It? USGA Golf Course Rating is an assessment of the difficulty of a given golf course for scratch golfers. The course rating estimates the scratch golfers’ average scores who played on the golf course under the rating procedure.
It is expressed in strokes, so an easy par-72 golf course could have a 68.9 course rating, while the more difficult one is likely to have a rating of 74.5. In other words, an average golfer should expect to play 68.9 strokes when the course playing difficulty is rated ‘easy,’ while on a challenging course, the same golfer is expected ...
USGA introduced the slope rating measurement in the 1980s as a system of fairness directed to bogey players. Namely, they observed that a bogey golfer is likely to increase the number of strokes considerably more when playing on a course with a higher level of difficulty than a scratch golfer. This led to creating a slope handicap system ...
Yes, they do. However, the course rating impacts the golfer’s index considerably more than the slope number. It often happens that players become too focused on the slope number while ignoring the golf course number.
The strokes for an 18-hole match are divided between the nines, with an odd number of strokes giving that player an extra shot on one of the nine-hole sides. For example, if a player gets 13 strokes, they get a stroke on the holes ranked No. 1-13 in handicap, meaning they get seven strokes on the odd-numbered side and six on the even-numbered side. ...
The hardest hole on a golf course is often the longest par 4, but that's not always the case. Sometimes, it can be a particularly long par 5. Sometimes it's a longer, but not the longest, par 4. It could be the hole with the most hazards and trouble for players.
Course typically offer separate handicap hole rankings for men and women, though that's not required by the USGA. The USGA recommends courses allocate the odd numbers on the front and the even numbers on the back, unless the back nine is decidedly more difficult than the front. They also recommend not allocating the lower handicap numbers -- i.e., ...
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.
To put it another way: USGA Course Rating tells the best golfers how hard a golf course actually plays; USGA Slope Rating indicates how much harder the course plays for "regular" (meaning not among the best) golfers.
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.
The minimum slope rating is 55 and the maximum is 155 (slope does not relate specifically to strokes played as course rating does). When the slope rating system was first put into effect, the USGA set the slope for an "average" golf course at 113; however, not many 18-hole golf courses have slope ratings that low.
Because he plays on a course with a higher slope rating, Player A's handicap index will be lower than Player B's (when it is calculated using the slope ratings), despite the fact that they both average scores of 85. So when A and B get together to play, B will get those extra strokes he needs.
While frequently unused by new or casual golfers, slope and course rating are two of golf’s most important, and most commonly confused numbers. These two numbers might be a seemingly random arrangement of numbers on your scorecard, but in reality , they are two of the great equalizers in the game of golf.
The simple answer is, a course rating is a number that indicates what a scratch golfer (a golfer that averages par for a round) should shoot on this particular course. So, while the par for a particular course might be 72, a course rating of 70.1 would indicate that a scratch golfer should be almost two under par on average.
While the course and slope ratings of a golf course are unlikely to change dramatically, they are usually re-evaluated every 4-5 years.
However, if bogey-golfers on course A averages a score of 90 while bogey-golfers on course B average a score of 95 the slope rating for course B would be higher than for course A; indicating a higher level of difficulty for higher handicap players.