How is the Course Rating™ and Slope Rating™ calculated?
The USGA Course Rating™ System is used to determine these values. The USGA Course Rating™ System is very objective in nature taking into account all the factors that affect the playing difficulty of a course. It requires numerous specific measurements to be taken on each hole of the golf course, which assists in the consistency of application by course rating teams.
The system is designed to differentiate playing difficulty of all courses relative to each other, which requires a consistent application by all our course rating teams.
The USGA Course Rating™ System takes account of the actual measured length of a golf course, factors that can affect the playing length and other challenges that influence the playing difficulty of each hole (obstacle factors).
The factors that can affect the effective playing length of a golf course are:
Roll – assessment of how far a ball will roll on fairways with various surface conditions/contouring
Dogleg – where the dogleg design of a hole does not allow a full tee shot to be played
Wind – assessment of average wind strength and direction
Elevation – difference in elevation between the tee and green and for player’s approach shots to the green
Forced Lay-up – where a player is forced to play short of obstacles that crosses the fairway
The ten obstacle factors that are used to determine the playing difficulty of a golf course are:
Topography – nature of the stance and lie within each landing zone and approach shot elevation to the green
Fairway – the width of fairway landing zones, hole length and nearby obstacles – trees, hazards and punitive rough
Green Target – evaluation of hitting the green with the approach shot – visibility and nature of the green surface
Recoverability and Rough – difficulty of recovery if the tee shot landing zones and/or the green is missed
Bunkers – size and depth of bunkers and their proximity to landing zones and greens
Crossing Obstacle – shot length to safely carry water, penalty areas, OB or extreme rough.
Lateral Obstacle – takes account of the distance of obstacles from the centre of fairways and greens.
Trees – size and density, proximity to centre of landing zones/greens, shot length to target areas, recovery difficulty
Green Surface – putting difficulty on a green – green speeds, surface contours and tiers
Psychological – evaluation of the cumulative effect of the other nine obstacle factors
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