Handicap trended up. Golf Course is harder!

[Bucki1968]

Okay in the past three months my handicap has gone up from a 1.6 to a 2.5. Looking at some of the scores that are about to go away, I'm thinking that I'm going to go up a stroke or two shortly. I have played most of my recent rounds at the Club that I joined back in December. The golf courses that I play most often now, are much harder than the Muni/public courses I played on a regular basis prior to joining the club. I understand that the course ratings and slope are adjusted when calculating the handicap but I'm not sure that some of those numbers are very accurate. I recently played at a public course that I have played often and found it to be much easier now since i'm playing at a tougher course all the time. The greens are slower so I can be more aggressive with putts or chips and have made more and chipped the ball closer because of this. The fairways seem to be much more forgiving than at my club.  Also the public courses I have played recently seem to have less trouble per hole (usually on one side or the other) unlike where I'm playing most of my rounds (at the club). From the same tees the course ratings are about .5 to 1 shot less at the public/muni I play occasionally. Slope is 4-8 lower than club. My point is, does the overall condition of the course have anything to do with the slope/ratings? I guess I don't feel like I"m playing any worse than before. As a matter of fact, I've shot better scores on the courses I used to play all the time because they just seem easier now. I'm thinking the problem is that on my "home course" I'll have one or two bad holes because if you miss in the wrong spot, your dead. How often are the golf courses rated/sloped? I'm curious if anyone has any answers.

[mcanadiens]

1 minute ago, Bucki1968 said:

I understand that the course ratings and slope are adjusted when calculating the handicap but I'm not sure that some of those numbers are very accurate.

A lot can change in a short period of time at a course. 

A new club pro took over my favorite easy course and made the greens stupid fast. Not sure how much time it will take for the course ratings to adjust to reflect the new reality.

[DaveP043]

3 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

 How often are the golf courses rated/sloped? I'm curious if anyone has any answers.

Courses are rated at least once every 10 years.  If changes are made, I believe a course can ask for re-rating before the routine rating.  https://www.usga.org/handicapping-articles/course-rating-primer-e5bf725f.html

Ratings are funny, they're intended to estimate difficulty for an idealized "scratch" and "bogey" golfer.  But none of us are ideal in any way, and so an individual (you) might score better or worse on a specific golf course than the system would predict.  What you're seeing may just be a result of your own personal variations from the "normal" golfers used in the rating process.

 

[NM Golf]

My handicap fluctuates depending on what tee I play most often. The two tees I play at my course are rated 69.5 and 71.6. I pretty much shoot the exact same scores no matter which tee I play, so when I play the harder tees more often my handicap goes down. When I play with all the older guys in the summer, my handicap goes up because they play the easier tees. 

[Bucki1968]

From what I have been able to read, the course ratings also take into account a "stroke obstacle" factor. I have not been able to find anything about course conditions as far as speed of greens, condition of course etc. I assume in the stroke obstacle ratings they take into account where hazards are how difficult it is to maneuver around them or in the case of a bunker, how difficult it is to get out of it.

[iacas]

12 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

The golf courses that I play most often now, are much harder than the Muni/public courses I played on a regular basis prior to joining the club. I understand that the course ratings and slope are adjusted when calculating the handicap but I'm not sure that some of those numbers are very accurate.

In addition to what @DaveP043 said, you may have also just gotten used to playing the other courses. Or often times they rate the tees for a certain yardage… and then move all the tee markers up a box, so you're actually playing the wrong rated tees.

So that's three things that could be causing the jump.

A fourth… maybe you're just not playing as well.

8 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Courses are rated at least once every 10 years.  If changes are made, I believe a course can ask for re-rating before the routine rating.  https://www.usga.org/handicapping-articles/course-rating-primer-e5bf725f.html

We rate courses every 5-6 years, but ten is the requirement, yeah.

And if a course makes significant changes, they typically pay for the re-rating if it's earlier than the association would have rated the course.

Note: changes have to be pretty darn significant to warrant a re-rating.

8 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

But none of us are ideal in any way, and so an individual (you) might score better or worse on a specific golf course than the system would predict.  What you're seeing may just be a result of your own personal variations from the "normal" golfers used in the rating process.

That's about what I was going to say.

The course may suit you.

7 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

From what I have been able to read, the course ratings also take into account a "stroke obstacle" factor.

That's just how we rate everything - every hazard and water and bunker and rough and fairway and green and tree and so on, 18 times per round, for both the bogey and the scratch golfer.

For example a small, steep green with a tier that you hit on a 400 yard hole (i.e. from 150 yards), will have a higher "green target value" and thus a higher "score" for the hole than a large green that's relatively flat on a 320-yard hole.