May
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Ever wonder what the Course and Slope Rating represent?
Filed Under Decoding the USGA Handicap System | Leave a Comment
For beginners, have you ever wondered what is the meaning and purpose of the Course and Slope ratings you see on the scorecard? Golf lessons do not necessary explain these rather technical stuff … mine didn’t.
Well, let’s decode it:
1. Definition
Course Rating (or USGA Course Rating) is the USGA’s mark that indicates the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer under normal course and weather conditions. In short, it reflects the probable score of a scratch golfer playing on the course. So the higher the number, the more difficult is the course.
Slope Rating is the USGA’s mark that indicates the measurement of the relative difficulty of a course for players who are not scratch golfers compared to the USGA Course Rating. The lowest Slope Rating is 55 and the highest is 155. A golf course of standard playing difficulty has a Slope Rating of 113. The higher the number, the more difficult is the course for players who are not scratch golfers.
Confused? Don’t worry, the explanation below is more intuitive.