# Slope rating



## Big Hobbit (Nov 2, 2010)

Please could someone post up how Slope Ratings work?


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

What is a "Course Rating"?


The quick answer is that it's a single number indicating the difficulty of a golf course to an expert golfer, a "par golfer". The figure is used when calculating handicaps.

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. Each value corresponds to a different tee.

For example: On this same course, the Course Rating for golfers who play from the men's blue tees might be 72.8. From the men's white tees, the Course Rating might be 71.0. The ladies' red tees may be rated at 73.3.

These figures are almost always printed on the score card. 




What is a "Course Slope"?


The quick (and overly simplistic) answer is that it's a single number indicating the difficulty of a golf course to a "bogey golfer". The figure is used when calculating handicaps.

The Course Slope value is a two- or three-digit integer, always between 55 and 155, with 113 being the average or "standard" value.

see here
Slope & Rating Explained


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## Big Hobbit (Nov 2, 2010)

Thanks Steve. Over here our courses have par for the course, and also what they call Standard Scratch. The course I play at is a par 72, SS 73. If SS is higher than par, the the course is on the difficult side. For the initial purposes of getting a handicap SS comes into play. Thereafter your handicap is adjusted based on the comps you play in, and that's when it gets a little more complicated. As you'll appreciate, on a really windy day the scores will be higher than on a a still day. Rather than make a relatively large adjustment to handicaps that in reality where more affected by weather than the difficulty of the course we now have a Standard Scratch calculation done after each competition, called competition standard scratch (CSS). Handicaps are then calculated against CSS.

And thereafter 

The CONGU Unified Handicapping System


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

Here is also the theory behind the numbers. The course rating is the average score that a statistical population of scratch golfers would shoot from a given set of tees. If the rating is 69.4 for a par 72 (my home course from the middle tees), then a scratch golfer should average 2.6 strokes under par. That number is mostly based on length, because a scratch player is expected to be skilled enough to avoid most of the other difficulties which the course might throw at him. 

The slope a bit harder to specifically define. It is based on how difficult the course should be for a bogey golfer, and includes how much trouble the hazards, bunkers, trees, elevations etc. would be for that bogey golfer to negotiate. The theoretical average is a 113 slope. Higher is more difficult and lower is less difficult. 

However, I've played a couple of short courses with higher slopes than my home course, yet scored better because I didn't have to use my driver as much to get within reasonable approach range. By using a shorter club off the tee it was easier to stay out of trouble. I'm not a bogey golfer, but I'm a lot closer to that than I am to scratch.


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## Big Hobbit (Nov 2, 2010)

It sounds like your Course Rating is the same as our Standard Scratch albeit over here its to whole numbers. Our par 72 Standard Scratch 73 means a scratch golfer would average 73.


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

I not adding anything new, but just a reminder that here in the states the US golf Association and the R&A work together.:thumbsup:


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## Big Hobbit (Nov 2, 2010)

broken tee said:


> I not adding anything new, but just a reminder that here in the states the US golf Association and the R&A work together.:thumbsup:


We're a little strange this side of the pond Bob. The handicap system is adminstered via the various County Unions, managed by the National Unions, e.g. the English Golf Union, and ultimately driven by Congu. The R & A do the Rules stuff over here but not handicaps.

HandicapMaster Golf Software

Typical British, convoluted, bureaucracy.:dunno:


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## broken tee (Jan 13, 2008)

Big Hobbit said:


> We're a little strange this side of the pond Bob. The handicap system is adminstered via the various County Unions, managed by the National Unions, e.g. the English Golf Union, and ultimately driven by Congu. The R & A do the Rules stuff over here but not handicaps.
> 
> HandicapMaster Golf Software
> 
> Typical British, convoluted, bureaucracy.:dunno:


Point well taken, I was thinking rules instead of handicap rating


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