The Slope Rating System Described for
You and Me (the players)
An explanation by Greg Paul, Manager of GoforGOLF
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Designed by Dean Knuth and
introduced in the United States in 1987, the Slope Rating System (United States
Golf Association Slope Rating & Handicapping System), is designed to be a
handicap system that is more consistent and more portable.
The slope refers to the difference
between scratch players and bogey players, (bogey players are based on
players between 17 and 22 handicap), and that the difference between the two is greater
on difficult courses than it is on an easier course. This is reflected in the
difference in the ‘Slope’ if graphed. |
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| The calculation of the ‘Slope’
Rating of a course is done by a team of assessors, who take into account many
factors, such as, difficulties caused by fairway width, greens conditions,
bunkers (number/size/position), water hazards, trees, in fact all the hazards
and combinations of conditions. Elevated greens, proximity of water, out of
bounds etc. etc. These ratings all go into compiling a figure that compares
easy courses to hard courses. This rating can be a number from 55 to 155, with
an average course having a ‘slope’ of 113. |
| Now that gets rid of the tricky part. |
| In fact, for the golfer, the Slope Rating System works very easily. |
| The slope and handicap calculation is
all done for you, and all affiliated clubs have their ‘Slope Charts’
displayed on the club notice board and/or by the first tee. |
| 1. Each player has a ‘Handicap Index’ to one decimal place, like 18.7 for me. |
2. When you go to play a course, you check your ‘Handicap Index’ against the
club’s Slope Charts, and that tells you your ‘Course Handicap’ for that
course and for the Tee you are going to play that day.
(There is a separate Slope Chart for each men's and ladies' tee). |
| Note: If the course is difficult, you will
get more strokes than your Handicap Index, but if it is an easy course,
you get less strokes. This ‘Course Handicap’ is what you use
to calculate your Corrected Score and Stableford points. |
3. You fill in your card using your ‘Course Handicap’ to calculate your
stableford points and corrected score and
submit your card in the usual way ensuring you have entering your player number.
(Each
registered player has a unique national Golf Association player number). |
| Your Corrected Score
is loaded into the Golf Association’s network computer, which
re-calculates your Handicap Index every two weeks. Being on a central
computer, means that every club has access to everyone’s Handicap Index
at any time. (I understand you also can check to see that your
playing partner did put in that great scorecard and has had his/her Handicap Index
adjusted appropriately). |
| So, you have got more strokes to
work with on a difficult course. |
| There is even more. Your Handicap Index is
calculated from the best 10 of the last 20 games you have played. No more
big swings in your basic handicap. When you have that one great round, your
Handicap Index is not mucked up for the next 20 odd rounds until you get back to
where you were. No . . . you are not mucked
up because it is averaged as part of the 10 best rounds, so reducing the effect
of the one good round. |
| The future of the Slope System |
| It is envisaged that more and more countries will take up this system, and
ultimately all countries could be using the same handicapping system. |
This means that we can travel
to any country using the Slope Rating System and compete in a competition
as a handicap player at any affiliated course, against any other player (professionals
exempted), whether male or female, even if playing off different tees. A truly
international sport for the average player.
(This has usually been confined to
the elite/professional players). |
| Read on to get a more detailed
description of how the courses are rated, and if you have any questions, email
me on greg@goforgolf.com and I will do
my best to answer them or obtain the answers for you. |
More Detail for those Interested |
| The USGA has authorised countries
to use the USGA Slope Rating & Handicapping System, supplying manuals and
training on the introduction, installation and operation of the system. |
| Many countries have adopted the
US system. They include: Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brunei, Canada,
Chile, the Republic of China, China Tapei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland,
Jamaica, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, the
Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Singapore, South America, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Thailand, and Venezuela. Updated September 2002 |
| Teams of assessors walk each
course considering many factors, and scoring each factor on a set scale. The
results of each factor, for each hole, is given a weighting, and the resulting
calculation produces a slope rating for each tee. The teams consider each
factor from the point of view of a scratch player, and from the point of view
of a bogey player. The difference between the range of these two results is called the ‘slope’. |
A brief consideration of each of the ‘Factors’ follows: |
| Effective Playing Length Factor |
- Roll - The
different distances that tee shots from scratch and bogey golfers will roll,
and the effect that has on the playing length of the course.
- Elevation - The
effect to the playing length of the hole from a change in elevation from tee to
green.
- Dogleg/Forced Lay-up -
A measure of how longer or shorter a hole plays because it has a bend
(allowing a scratch player to cut the corner or causing him or her to have to
lay-up). Or because of obstacles, such as water or bunkers, crossing the
fairway or in the player’s landing zones a scratch or bogey golfer may have to
hit less than a full shot.
- Prevailing Wind - The
different effect of constant wind on seaside and plains courses and other
course unprotected from the wind.
- Altitude - An
adjustment for the fact that courses above 600 metres (2000 feet) altitude play
shorter than their measured length because shots fly farther in the thin air.
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| Obstacle Factors |
- Topography - A
factor if the stance or lie in the fairway is affected by slopes or mounds, or
the shot to the green is uphill or downhill. Slopes, hills or mounds in the
rough and around greens are taken into
account by the Recoverability and Rough rating, not Topography.
- Fairway - The width
of the fairway in the area from which scratch and bogey players will play their
second and third shots must be considered. Nearby trees, hazards and punitive
rough increase the Fairway rating.
- Green Target - An
evaluation of the difficulty of hitting the green with the approach shot.
Primary considerations are target size, length of shot, how well the green
holds and the difficulty of normal hole locations.
Adjustments are
made for, Visibility, Tilted/Tiered, Firmness, Obstructed and Bounce.
- Recoverability and
Rough - The probability of missing the tee shot landing zone and the green,
and the difficulty of recovering if either, or both, is missed.
The consequence
of missing the green is considered to be twice as significant as missing the
fairway.
The factors to
be considered are the difficulty of the green as a target (as reflected in the
Green Target rating); the drop off, rise or mounding in play around the green,
the type and height of rough grasses. Conditions such as dunes, waste areas
(not bunkers), brush, tree roots, swales, rocks, lava, desert, heather and
gorse are also considered.
- Bunkers - The size
of the bunkers and their proximity to target areas rather than simply the
number of bunkers are considered. Evaluation of how bunkers reduce the size of
the landing zone, both on the tee shot and the approach to the green.
- Out of Bounds / Extreme
Rough - Consideration depends on the proximity of the boundary to the center
of the landing zone or green and whether obstacles squeeze exists.
Considerations are visibility, squeeze, tilt, bounce, jeopardy and prevention.
- Water Hazards -
This depends on the distance from the landing zone or green and, in the case of
a hazard crossing a hole, the problem involved in playing over the hazard.
Similar factors to Out of Bounds are considered.
- Trees - Trees
depend on their size and density, their distance from the center of the fairway
or green, the difficulty of recovering, and the length of the hole. Bushes,
gorse, cacti, scrub and the like become trees when their height exceeds 6 feet.
A few large and strategically placed trees may deserve a higher rating than a
large number of trees which have less effect on play.
- Green Surface factor
- An evaluation of the difficulty of a green from a putting standpoint. Speed
and surface contouring are the main factors. The size of the green is
considered irrelevant in evaluating putting difficulty.
A stimpmeter is
used to evaluate speed.
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Psychological - An
evaluation of the cumulative effect of the other obstacles. The location of
many punitive obstacles close to a target area creates uneasiness in the mind
of the player and thus affects his or her score.
This uneasiness will differ between scratch and bogey players depending
on the particular situation.
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| Note: |
| Scratch Golfer - A scratch golfer
is an amateur player who plays to the standard of the stroke play qualifiers
competing in the US Amateur Championship. |
| Bogey Golfer - A bogey golfer is one with a USPGA Handicap
Index of 17.5 to 22.4 [21.5 to 26.4 for women]. |
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Further information can be found on a number of web sites. |
| The USGA website includes the
‘USGA Handicap System Manual’ along with Frequently Asked Questions and other
Articles and Publications on the subject of the Slope Rating System.
http://www.usga.com/handicap
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| I suggest you also try the ‘Pope
of Slope’. This website has a host of articles on the slope system, from
commentary to the detailed calculations that are used.
www.popeofslope.com |
| Also, various national golfing bodies often have information on
the handicapping system used in their region. See the GoforGOLF
links page for a list of worldwide links to Slope System related sites.
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| We acknowledge the help and many sources that have been used
to compile the above. |
| Greg Paul |
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