The USGA Course Rating System - Southern California Golf .

The USGACourse RatingSystemDEVELOPED BY THEUNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATIONEffective January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2017Copyright 2016United States Golf AssociationAll Rights ReservedPrinted in the United States of America

THE 10 BASIC RULES FOR COURSE RATING TEAMS1. T he rating team must be composed of a minimum of three trained and experienced raters, withone rater designated as the team leader. The team leader must have attended a course ratingseminar conducted by the USGA.2. D o not serve as a team member when your home course is being rated.3. D o not play the course while rating it. Shots may be hit from various positions when rating toassist in evaluations.4. View each hole from the teeing ground, the landing zones of scratch and bogey golfers, and thegreen.5. Rate the obstacles in accordance with the guidelines established in “The USGA Course RatingSystem Guide,” not based on how you would play the hole.6. D o not discuss obstacle values while evaluating a hole. Values should be discussed with the teamleader after each team member has completed rating the hole. The Green Target rating may beagreed upon before rating the other obstacles.7. D o not record obstacle values on Form 1 until the hole has been evaluated from all positions.8. Attempt to agree within one unit on the rating of each obstacle. The team leader has theresponsibility of ensuring that the team members reach an agreement. The leader’s decision is final.9. Take about four hours to rate an average 18-hole golf course.10. Do not divulge the course rating results to a club. Ratings are subject to review by a CourseRating Review Committee before the ratings are official.USGA COURSE RATING MANUALThe following terms are trademarks and service marks of the United States Golf Association: “BogeyRating ,” “Course Handicap ,” “Handicap Index ,” “Slope ,” “Slope Rating ,” “Slope System ,”“Stimpmeter ,” “United States Golf Association ,” “USGA ,” “USGA Course Rating ,” “USGA CourseRating Program ,” “USGA Course Rating System ”Copyright 2016 United States Golf Association All Rights Reserved

Table of ContentsSECTIONPAGE1Introduction12The History of Course Rating23Definitions54The Scratch and Bogey Golfer10Definitions10Shot Length10Transition Zone11Accuracy Pattern12Obstacles “Do Not Exist”13Bogey Golfer Cannot Play the Hole145Rating Golf Courses16Authorized Golf Associations to Rate Courses1616Authorized Golf Associations to Re-Rate CoursesAuthorized Golf Association Course Rating Program 16Composition of a Course Rating Team17Modification of Courses176Measuring Golf Courses18General18Approved Methods18Measuring18Measurements for Course Raters217Forms22Rating Courses 3,000 Yards or Longer22Rating Short Courses22Pace Rating228Evaluation of Obstacles & Correctionsto Effective Playing Length23General23Obstacle Rating Summary Table23Ratings23Symbols Used in Rating Tables25Bogey Ratings25Adjustment Alphabetical/NumericalIdentifier Codes26Combining and Weighting Principles27Obstacle Rating Measurements27Obstacles Behind the Green329Pre-Rating Preparation3310Rating Procedure34Conditions When Rating34Multiple Tees34Composition of Rating Team34Equipment34On-Course Procedures3511Effective Playing Length Factors37Roll37Elevation38Dogleg/Forced Lay Up39Wind40Altitude4112Obstacle Factors44Topography45Fairway46Green Target47Recoverability and Rough51SECTIONPAGEBunkersOut of Bounds/Extreme RoughWater HazardsTreesDesert (Men Only)Green SurfacePsychological13USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating CalculationsEffective Playing Length CorrectionYardage RatingObstacle Stroke ValueUSGA Course Rating and Slope Rating14Post Rating ProceduresReviewAuthorized Golf Association Records15The Effect of Course Managementand Maintenance on Course RatingChange in Effective Playing LengthChanges in Obstacles16Nine-Hole USGA Course and Slope Rating17Decisions18Short Course Rating ProcedureGeneralDefinitionsForms to Use and the Rating ProcessFormulas to Use in Short Course Rating Calculation19USGA Pace RatingGeneralDefinitionsAssumptionsPace RatingCompleting USGA Pace Rating Form PR1APPENDIXAFormsForm 1Form 2Form 3Form 3WForm SCR1Form SCR2Form SCR3Form SCR3WForm PR1BRating ExamplesPar-3 Hole Over WaterDifficult 18th HoleCSample Ratings Expiration LetterDChanges Since the Previous 0111112113115117119120

SECTION 1 — INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of “The USGA Course Rating System” is to offer a “textbook” on the USGA Course RatingSystem.The USGA Course Rating System, including Slope Rating, was implemented by the USGA onJanuary 1, 1987, as a refinement of the existing USGA Handicap System. This system assists inaddressing the problem of portability of handicaps by adjusting a player’s Handicap Indexaccording to the relative difficulty of the golf course being played.Prior to the introduction of Slope Rating to the USGA Course Rating System, golf courses were ratedonly for the scratch golfer, with no consideration given to average or higher handicapped players.Under the USGA Course Rating System, including Slope Rating, courses are rated according to thedifficulty for the scratch and the bogey golfer. The USGA Course Rating System takes into accountthe factors that affect the playing difficulty of a course.The USGA Course Rating System is designed to ensure that the rating of a course is in proper relationto the ratings of other courses. If this is not achieved, players at courses rated too low will be overhandicapped, and vice versa.Accuracy and consistency are the keys to effective course rating. A course must first be accuratelymeasured, and the measured yardage must be corrected for factors that affect the playing length,which are roll, changes in elevation, forced lay ups, doglegs, wind, and altitude. Obstacles thataffect playing difficulty must then be evaluated in accordance with established standards. Thesestandards reduce subjectivity in course rating.A USGA Course Rating is based on the performance of the scratch golfer as defined and describedin Section 4. A USGA Course Rating is based on yardage, effective playing length corrections, and 10obstacle factors to the extent that they affect the scoring ability of a scratch golfer.The USGA Course Rating System provides procedures for determining a Bogey Rating based on theperformance of the bogey golfer as defined in Section 4. This rating is used in connection with a USGACourse Rating to provide a Slope Rating.Through the collection of extensive empirical data from golfers and golf holes, the factors that affectthe difficulty of a golf hole have been evaluated and assigned numerical values that yield an accurateUSGA Course Rating and Slope Rating when applied to the entire course.“The USGA Course Rating System” describes the procedures for: Installing the USGA Course Rating System in a region; Measuring golf courses; Evaluating obstacles and conditions that affect playing length; Computing a USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating based on these measurements and evaluations; USGA Short Course Rating – Rating courses too short to qualify for a USGA Course Rating; and Pace Rating – Determining the appropriate time needed to play a rated course.In this manual, items and yardages specifically for women are shown in [square brackets].COURSE RATING MANUAL 1

SECTION 2 — THE HISTORY OF COURSE RATINGCourse rating, like golf, has its origin in the British Isles. The first measure of course difficulty was par.The word par is derived from stocks; i.e., “a stock may be above or below its normal or par figure.”British golf writer A.H. Doleman in 1870 asked Davie Strath and Jamie Anderson, two professionals,what score would be required to win The Belt at the then 12-hole course at Prestwick. Their responsewas that perfect play should produce a score of 49. Mr. Doleman called this par for Prestwick andwhen Young Tom Morris scored two strokes over par for three rounds (36 holes) to win The Belt, theterm stuck.Another measure for scoring difficulty of a golf course was “bogey,” which was the expected score ofthe fictitious Colonel Bogey. Around 1890, Mr. Hugh Rotherham of the Coventry Golf Club proposedthe concept of a blind opponent in match play. He was called Colonel Bogey by Dr. Thomas Browneof Great Yarmouth. Colonel Bogey was a low handicap player who usually made 4 on long par-3 holesand 5 on long par-4 holes but otherwise played nearly flawless golf. Bogey scores ranged from 76 to80 on most courses.The first course rating system was developed by the Ladies Golf Union (LGU) under the leadershipof Miss Issette Pearson in about 1900. Robert Browning in “A History of Golf” says of the LGU, “Theirbiggest achievement was the gradual establishment of a national system of handicapping . No doubtit was uphill work at the start (1893) but within eight or ten years the LGU had done what the men hadsignally failed to do — had established a system of handicapping that was reasonably reliable from clubto club.”The first USGA Course Rating System was established in 1911. It was proposed by Leighton Calkins whoalso proposed the first USGA Handicap Committee. Calkins was an officer of the Metropolitan GolfAssociation and served on the USGA Executive Committee in 1907 and 1908. Calkins’ proposal was thatpar ratings be based on the play of U.S. Amateur champion, Jerome Travers. Rating courses accordingto the “expected” score of the national amateur champion became accepted, and course rating wasborn in America. Calkins was angered, however, by the USGA’s decision to allow clubs to determinetheir own ratings, calling such a system a “farce” and “useless.” Calkins later won his point, and aUSGA Course Rating was issued by regional golf associations as it is today.By 1914, the USGA rating concept began to dominate articles in British golf magazines. By 1925, a GolfUnions’ Joint Advisory Committee of the British Isles was formed to assign Standard Scratch Scores togolf courses in Great Britain and Ireland. Today, their men’s authority is called the Council of NationalGolf Unions (CONGU).In the 1920’s, the Massachusetts Golf Association suggested refinements in course ratingmethods, and William Langford of Chicago developed a fractional par concept which further refinedcourse ratings. In the 1930’s, Thomas G. McMahon, who was President of the Chicago District GolfAssociation in 1942 and 1943 and President of the Southern California Golf Association in the early1960’s, refined Langford’s technique and introduced “differentials” between scores and courseratings.The USGA Handicap Committee adopted the Massachusetts Golf Association’s recommendations forcourse ratings for men in 1947. This method called for rating on a hole-by-hole basis where each holewas rated in tenths of a stroke. “The USGA Handicap System” contained descriptions of golf holes thattypified holes of a specific rating. The hole ratings were totaled and rounded off to the nearest wholenumber; i.e., “The rating of the entire course is the total of the separate hole ratings, with the finalfigure being the nearest whole number, such as 69 or 72, and never in fractions, such as 69.4 or 71.8.”2 COURSE RATING MANUAL