The CSGA Links Volume 2 Issue 2 April, 2014 | Page 36

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Article by the USGA Handicap Department

A Head for Ratings

E

verybody has a nemesis hole.
It’s the one that tends to
ruin a good round, with an
obstacle that you just can’t figure out
how to avoid. It’s psychological. And,
believe it or not, it’s addressed in the
USGA Course Rating System.

While the system is a complex
set of rules and computations, it boils
down to three numbers given for each
set of tees: the course, bogey and slope
ratings. Most people know that the
course rating is a gauge of difficulty for
a scratch player. After the Handicapping
101 from last September, more people
should understand the role of a bogey
rating.

Slope ratings are mathematical
derivations of the course and bogey
ratings and indicate the measurement
of the relative difficulty of a course
for those who are not scratch players.
But how does a rating team determine
course and bogey ratings?

First, yardage is an essential
component. For all golfers, regardless
of ability, yardage is the most significant
factor to overcome. Rating teams begin
by measuring the precise length of
each hole. They then take into account
several effective playing length factors:
How far does the ball roll? Are there
any changes in elevation? Are there any
forced lay-ups or doglegs? Is there any
prevailing wind or is the course 2,000
feet above sea level or higher? Each of
these would affect a course’s playing
length and require an adjustment to
the measured length.

But rating teams also pay close
attention to a course’s characteristics,
called obstacle factors, that can make
each hole more difficult or easier.
These represent the most important
assessments made by a rating team.
Beginning in 1982, the USGA introduced
10 factors that were considered crucial
to course evaluation.

Each of these obstacle factors is
rated on a scale of 0 to 10, depending
on their relation to how a scratch and
bogey golfer would play the hole.

When the evaluation is complete,
the numbers for each factor are totaled
and multiplied by a relative weight
factor. The weighted obstacle values
are applied to scratch and bogey
formulas, then converted to strokes.
Those strokes are added or subtracted
from the yardage rating to produce
course and bogey ratings.

There are several detailed factors
to consider before a state, regional
or local golf association provides
certified ratings to a club. There is
little guesswork involved; the process
is objective and complete, with rating
calibration seminars held around the
country on a regular basis.

The personal computer has
made calculations within the system a
much simpler process, using software
developed by the USGA. That’s much
easier than in the earliest days of the
system. Back then the raters found
that crunching the numbers, like the
inability of some players to conquer a
nemesis hole, was all in their heads.