Course Rating™ is a core service that is provided to all golf clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf.
The Course Rating™ process determines the playing difficulty of a golf course for a scratch golfer under normal course and weather conditions.
The Course Rating™ is expressed within GB&I as a Course Rating™ and a Slope Rating™ which is provided for all sets of tees from which qualifying competitions are played from.
Course Rating™ is also the cornerstone of the World Handicap System™.
A Course Rating™ represents the expected score for a scratch player (Handicap Index® of 0.0) under normal playing conditions, while a Bogey Rating™ represents the expected score for a bogey player (Handicap Index 20.0 to 24.0). These two figures work together to calculate a Slope Rating™, which is a measure of the relative difficulty of a golf course between the scratch player and all other players. In other words, the higher the Slope Rating™ of a golf course, the more strokes a higher-handicapped player will need to play that course on an equal basis to the scratch player.