handicap index and course ratings

[iacas]

  B-Con said:

Also, I don't know how often courses update their ratings. Could be some gradual lengthening of holes and changing the rough around the green, etc, made the course a little harder but wasn't enough to get the course re-rated. Does anyone with knowledge of the course rating process? I'm actually curious about this as a stand-alone issue.

I am a course rater.

New courses get re-rated after three years. Existing (older) courses get re-rated every five years. That may be regional - I don't know if it's a USGA rule or a West Penn Golf Association rule (my ruling district and the folks I rate with/for).

[zeg]

The courses I normally play are quite easy, something like 67/113 or 66/114. When I go to a somewhat more difficult course, say a 70/120 or /122, I will probably play to a lower handicap. Most of my problems are due to bad swings, not course treachery, and out to that level the course is still pretty forgiving. As a result, I score about the same but the differential is lower, so my handicap falls. Much beyond that difficulty, though, the course becomes a dominant factor, particularly when it is like the desert courses out here where any wild shots are probably off into an environmentally sensitive area rather than being playable from a neighboring fairway or in the woods. My best differential, though, was on a 70/130...

[The Recreational Golfer]

If I go to a new course and play from tees rated close to what I play from on my home course, I will shoot a higher score. It's because (a) I haven't learned how to play the new course yet, and (b) the new course requires that I hit shots I haven't learned to hit well or at all.

That doesn't bother me. Being a single-digit golfer (if I were) but never playing more than one or two courses doesn't seem right. The question for me is not what is my handicap, but how well does my handicap travel?

[dmc]

The club were our index's all went down was rated 72.0/129 @ 6610yds. The club were our index's have hall risen is rated 72.3/136 @ 6437yds. There are tee's at both clubs that go out over 7,000 yds, but that's to long for me.

[soloredd]

You're sure all 10 scores used for the revision are from both courses in both instances? Also, I play a course in Oakland that is 69.8/121 and a local course I play a lot is 70.5/121. I'd say the Oakland course is a lot tougher due to it being a links course (no adjacent fairways to recover wayward tee shots, very gusty winds, hard greens). As was said earlier though, some courses don't play to your game. It's like boxing - you might just run into an opponent that isn't on your level historically but has the perfect strategy to beat just you.

Bottom line is go out and play and enjoy it.

[dmc]

  soloredd said:

You're sure all 10 scores used for the revision are from both courses in both instances? Also, I play a course in Oakland that is 69.8/121 and a local course I play a lot is 70.5/121. I'd say the Oakland course is a lot tougher due to it being a links course (no adjacent fairways to recover wayward tee shots, very gusty winds, hard greens). As was said earlier though, some courses don't play to your game. It's like boxing - you might just run into an opponent that isn't on your level historically but has the perfect strategy to beat just you.

I have over 75 posted rounds in this year, and my playing buddies have about the same. So we get in alot of rounds. And we have different games but have all noticed the difference. And its around 4 strokes. That's alot. Guys that were around 1or 2 are now 4 or 5. I went from 2.6 as a low to 6.4 now and feel I'm playing good . I enjoy the chalenge and I'm not hung up on my index, I'm just suprized that it is that much different.

[DouglasAddington]

I just start my golf and want to look for some information about the courses. I like this kind of comments. It helps me to learn more from it. Anyway, the more the better. Thanks.

[James_Black]

  dmc said:

I have over 75 posted rounds in this year, and my playing buddies have about the same. So we get in alot of rounds. And we have different games but have all noticed the difference. And its around 4 strokes. That's alot. Guys that were around 1or 2 are now 4 or 5. I went from 2.6 as a low to 6.4 now and feel I'm playing good . I enjoy the chalenge and I'm not hung up on my index, I'm just suprized that it is that much different.

lets put it this way.

If you play in a tournament at another course your going to hammer the opposition since your used to playing such a hard golf course

[dmc]

  James_Black said:

lets put it this way.

I played in a pro-am and had my handicap questioned, I also noticed that everyone from the current club qualified last year for the ESPN challenge. It's hard to believe that with all the clubs in St. Louis everyone from our club won. And I don't believe that the guys are sandbagger's. I know I'm not. But it does appear that the rating or slope of the club is off. I know it must be hard to rate a course, I'm just supprized that there could be that much difference. I'm playing in the ESPN qualifier in August so I'll see how we stack up. I havn't played the club before so it will be interesting to see how we do. We will have to play good regardless.

[standrewsken]

Thanks for this thread. I was never sure before.

[uppi]

The course rating system is not perfect, at least in Wisconsin. We have several courses (milwaukee county courses come to mind) with huge inflation in there ratings. Take Oakwood for example. While long, the course is completely wide open, with virtually no trouble around the greens. Yet from the black tees it gets a slope rating of like 73.5. First time I played it I played from the black tees and shot 38 for 9 holes, didn't feel like I played much better than at my home course. Because really all I had to do was bomb something SOMEWHERE out there then hit a shot SOMEWHERE around the green (no trouble around the greens) then if you have even an average short game you can get up and down 40-50 percent of the time. Yet at my home course its not quite as long but its tighter, more trouble around the greens, tougher greens, etc and it only gets like a 71.2 course rating. If I were to make my home course at Oakwood, I could probably be sporting a 5 handicap right now. So NO, the course rating system has its flaws.