How a course is rated

HAL LENOBEL
Contributing Columnist
golf@lbknews.com

One might wonder exactly how a course is rated to determine the USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating. Courses are rated by teams who typically work as volunteers for the authorized golf association in each state or region. These teams have been trained to evaluate courses based on the USGA Course Rating System.

A Course Rating is primarily determined using objective measurements. The vast majority of time a rater spends on the golf course is spent collecting measurements to various obstacles in the normal landing zones as well as around the greens. Each of these measurements is referenced to a chart of defined standards to determine a table value for the obstacle. In addition, there are adjustments that can be applied to the table value if conditions are present that make the obstacle more or less significant than the table value.

The USGA Course Rating System looks at two things for each hole, effective playing length and obstacles. The effective playing length of each hole is determined based on the measured length and adjusted for five possible factors which are:

1.  Roll—how much more or less rolls player receives compared to the standard

2. Elevation—the change in elevation from tee to green

3. Dogleg/Forced Lay Up—is the player able to cut a dogleg or does a dogleg/other obstacle cause the player to hit less than a full shot

4.  Prevailing Wind—the average wind speed and direction of any prevailing wind

5.  Altitude—on course 2000 feet or more above sea level, the ball will travel farther based on the altitude

The effective playing length factors can either make a hole effectively shorter or longer than the measured length. For example if a hole is thirty feet down from the tee to the green, it will play effectively shorter than the same hole if it were flat or uphill from tee to green.

There are also ten obstacle ratings that are evaluated by the rating team on each hole, although not all ten may exist on a particular hole. These obstacle factors are:

1. Topography—how topography affects stance or lie and whether the shot to the green is uphill or downhill

2. Fairway—the width of the fairway in each landing zone and other factors which make the fairway easier or harder to hit

3. Green Target—how difficult is it to hit the green with the approach shot

4. Recoverability and Rough—recovery problems if the player misses the fairway or green

5.   Bunkers—chances of getting into a bunker and the difficulty of recovering from the bunkers

6. Out of Bounds/Extreme Rough—the proximity of out of bounds or extreme rough from the center of the fairway landing zone or green and whether the out of bounds or extreme rough must be crossed

7. Water Hazards—the proximity of a water hazard from the center of the fairway landing zone or green and whether the water hazard must be crossed

8.  Trees—proximity of trees and difficulty recovering from them

9. Green Surface—the speed and contour or slope of the putting green

10. Psychological—the cumulative effect of the other nine obstacles on a player

Once the rating team has determined the rating values for the effective playing length factors and the obstacles, these values are then plugged into a formula that converts them into a USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating. The authorized golf association reviews these values against other facilities in its region and then issues the Ratings. Without authorized golf associations, implementation of the USGA Course Rating could never take place. Locally, the Florida State Golf Association does the rating for this area.