What is Golf Course Rating?

What Is "Course Rating?"The Slope is actually not a measure of a course's
The quick answer is that it's a single number indicatingdifficulty. That's the responsibility of The Rating figure.
the difficulty of a golf course to an expert golfer, aThe Slope is a measure of how much difference a
"par golfer". The figure is used when calculatingcourse's difficulty is for the average bogey golfer
handicaps.compared to the scratch golfer.
The Course Rating is a number, close to par for theFor example say two different classes of golfer
course, and is expressed with a single decimal digit. Forplayed a Course.
example: If par for a course is 72, its Course RatingA dozen par golfers played this course under different
might be 71.4.weather conditions and different pin placements over
Rating values go up with difficulty.and over and over again. On average, they shot a 72.
Actually, for any given golf course, you can expect toA dozen bogey golfers also played this course over
see three (or even more) values for the Courseand over and over again. Their average score was 90.
Rating. Each value corresponds to a different tee.If we draw a straight line between these two values,
For example: On this same course, the Course Ratingyou'll see that the line ramps upwards from left to right.
for golfers who play from the men's blue tees mightRemember your first algebra class? The amount of
be 72.8. From the men's white tees, the Course Ratingslant in this line is called the "slope". The amount of
might be 71.0. The ladies' red tees may be rated atslope indicates just how quickly a course becomes
73.3.difficult for a golfer who is not as good as a par golfer.
These figures are almost always printed on the scoreAnd this is how the Course Slope figure gets its name.
card.Let's continue this example:
What is "Course Slope"?The Course Rating is simply the average score
The quick (and overly simplistic) answer is that it's acompiled by the par golfers. In this case, it's 72.
single number indicating the difficulty of a golf course toHowever, the Course Slope is not simply the average
a "bogey golfer". The figure is used when calculatingscore compiled by the bogey golfers. The value for
handicaps.Course Slope is a measure of the amount of slant (or
The Course Slope value is a two- or three-digit integer,slope) in the straight line drawn between the two
always between 55 and 155, with 113 being thevalues.
average or "standard" value.The values for Course Slope run from 55 to 155. The
Slope values increase with difficulty. But there is aunits are unimportant. Suffice to say that The USGA
catch that we'll discuss shortly.has developed a scale that is conducive to
There will be one Course Slope for each Coursemanipulation with a standard hand calculator. Because
Rating. The blue men's tees might have a Coursethis course is very ordinary, we'll say that the Course
Slope of 123. The white men's tees: 119 and the ladies'Slope is 113 for Course 1. 113 is the USGA's standard
red tees perhaps a 114.slope value.
These figures are almost always printed on the scoreNow look at another Course. We took these same
card in the United States. Course Slope is a creationpar and bogey golfers to Course 2 and let them play
of The United States Golf Association and has beenhundreds of rounds.
licensed to the Royal Canadian Golf Association.The average score of the par golfers was 68.5.
Courses outside of the United States and CanadaTherefore, the Course Rating is 68.5. It's an easier
(and their protectorates) will probably not have a Slopecourse for par golfers to play.
rating.The average score of the bogey golfers was 86.5.
What is the definition of a "par golfer"?The slant of the line drawn between these two
Someone who consistently shoots par for the course,numbers is precisely the same slant as was obtained
regardless of the course. Also known as a "scratchon Course 1. Therefore the Slope of Course 2 is
golfer".actually the same as the Slope of Course 1, which is
What is the definition of a "bogey golfer"?113.
Someone who shoots 18-over-par on average. I.e., thisNow consider a 3rd Course.
golfer would regularly shoot a score of 90 on a par-72Once again, the average score for the par golfers is
regulation course.68.5, making the Course Rating 68.5.
Why are there two numbers to describe the difficultyBut Course 3 is extra difficult for bogey golfers.
of a golf course?Perhaps this is a very long course, one that won't faze
Ever notice that the professionals on television alwaysprofessionals. But the added length may prove too
seem to shoot in the low 70s or high 60s no mattermuch for the typical bogey golfer.
how easy or difficult the golf course is?When we look at their scores, we find that the
In the 1980s, The USGA noticed this too. Statistically,average is close to 92.
they could show that no matter how easy or difficult aDrawing a straight line between the values results in a
course was, the very best of golfers will still shoot agreater slant than we found with Course 1 and Course
score close to par.2. I.e., the Course Slope is greater.
But they also noticed that the scores of less-proficientThe slant of the line for Course 3 is greater than that
golfers were more strongly affected by the difficultyfor Course 1, so the Course Slope is greater. Perhaps
of a golf course. And in general, the worse the golfer,it is around a value of 121.
the more that golfer's score was likely to be affectedNow, do you need to remember any of this
by the difficulty of the course itself.information in order to calculate handicaps?
And so, the handicap system was revised in the lateNot at all.
1980s to include a second figure to describe theAll you need to remember is that there are two
difficulty of a golf course. This figure is known as Thefigures required to describe the overall difficulty of a
Slope.golf course: The Course Rating and the Course Slope.