Golf Course Slope and Rating: Explained - Golficity
Full Answer
How to Calculate Slope Rating
While course ratings are a measure of the difficulty of a course, slope ratings are a measure of how much more difficult a course is for a high handicap golfer versus a lower one. For example, if you have two courses that each have a course rating of 72, they should be the same difficulty for a scratch golfer.
Q. What is a Slope Rating® and what does it represent? A. Playing length and obstacles impact higher-handicap players more than lower-handicap players, and Slope Rating measures the relative difficulty of a golf course for players who are not scratch players compared to those who are scratch players.
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.
120The 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.
The higher the Slope Rating, the harder the course is for the bogey golfer, relative to the difficulty of the course for the scratch golfer. Slope Ratings can range anywhere between 55 and 155, with the average slope rating in the United States being approximately 120.
The 18-hole "Augusta National" course at the Augusta National Golf Club facility in Augusta, Georgia features 7,270 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 74.0 and it has a slope rating of 135 on Bermuda grass.
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.
Slope merely tells you how “proportionately” more difficult that particular set of tees plays for the higher handicapped golfers as opposed to lower handicapped golfers. The more difficult the tees play proportionately for the higher handicappers, the greater the Slope rating that will be issued. That's it!
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.
172 - 215 ydsThe average distance golfers hit each club varies widely. A PGA Tour player hits a 7-iron between 172-215 yards....Average Distances for PGA Tour Players.ClubAverage Distance7 Iron172 - 215 yds8 Iron160 - 200 yds9 Iron148 - 185 ydsPitching Wedge136 - 170 yds7 more rows
A general rule of thumb to determine which tee box is right for you is if you hit your driver under 200 yards, play from the closest tee. If you hit from 200-225 the next farthest tee, and so on. When you are hitting 275+ accurately you should be playing the farthest tees back.
A scratch player essentially is one who can manage every aspect of their game, consistently, and can plot their way around the golf course hitting the right shots at the right time. A Scratch golfer will very rarely hit two bad shots in a row and has the mindset to recover rapidly from setbacks in a positive way.
A slope edition rangefinder gives you the distance to the flagstick, and the degree of elevation to the target. The change in elevation (Slope) will give you a 'Play like' yardage, so you can calculate the right club for the shot based on the yardage and slope.
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:
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.
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 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.
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 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.
The minimum slope rating is 55 and the maximum is 155 (slope does not relate specifically to strokes played as course rating does).
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. Course rating tells scratch golfers how difficult the golf course will be; slope rating tells bogey golfers how difficult it will be. To put it another way: USGA Course Rating ...
Some do, but the real-world average is higher than 113 .
USGA Course Rating is an evaluation of the difficulty of a golf course for scratch golfers. (More specifically, the number is an estimate of the average scores of the best 50-percent of rounds played by scratch golfers at the course being rated.) Course rating is very easy to understand because it is expressed in strokes.
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 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.
The slope rating of a golf course is a mathematical measure of the difficulty of the golf course. Slope rating takes into account the USGA par rating of the course as well as the expected score of a higher handicap golfer.
Now that we know that a slope rating is a measurement of the difficulty of a golf course, you are probably wondering how you can interpret a golf course’s slope rating. The first thing many golfers do when they arrive at the golf course is check the score card for the slope rating. Most scorecards will have the slope rating printed on them.
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. Be sure to check the slope rating for all of the tee boxes.
If you are planning on playing golf at River Landing Country Club in Wallace, NC here are the slope ratings that you can expect.
Wrong! As the above example confirms, it is the Course Rating and not the Slope, which is the more dominant factor in defining course difficulty.
Wrong! I wish I had a dollar for every letter, E-mail or phone call I have received criticizing existing ratings on the basis of the Slope only. In short there is nothing more dangerous than trying to draw any sort of meaningful conclusions by comparing Slope Ratings from one course to another.
Slope merely tells you how “proportionately” more difficult that particular set of tees plays for the higher handicapped golfers as opposed to lower handicapped golfers. The more difficult the tees play proportionately for the higher handicappers, the greater the Slope rating that will be issued.