Rules and Rants

Since Brent is in Florida this week where he will serve as a rules official at The PLAYERS Championship, I will be filling in on his blog duty.

A question I often get from golfers across the country is what is the most difficult course in Canada? That’s really an impossible question to answer. What is difficult for you may not seem as difficult to another golfer. Some golfers hit the ball ‘short and straight’ while others hit it ‘long and wild’, some courses are difficult tee-to-green while others show their teeth once the ball is on the putting green. A course may play relatively very easy for a low handicapper and prove to be very challenging for a higher handicapper¿ there are just too many variables for any course to make an exclusive claim as ‘the toughest in the land’.

The best we can do is to refer to the Course and Slope Rating System to help us identify some courses that, by using a standardized process, have been deemed to be difficult for all levels of players.

Course and Slope rating is based on the evaluation of obstacle factors that come into play and the effective playing length of the golf course being rated (effective playing length, by far, has the greatest affect on the rating). Obstacle factors are determined on a scale of 1 to 10 for each hole with both the scratch and bogey golfer in mind. They are as follows:

1. Effective Playing Length
2. Topography
3. Fairway
4. Green Target
5. Recoverability and Rough
6. Bunkers
7. Out of Bounds/Extreme Rough
8. Water Hazards
9. Trees
10. Green Surface
11. Psychological Elements

Once all the data has been recorded on the course rating forms, we arrive at two figures: the scratch rating and the bogey rating. The scratch rating (or Course Rating) is the number of strokes a scratch player would be expected to take under normal playing conditions. The bogey rating is the number of strokes a bogey player would be expected to take under normal conditions. By taking the difference between the scratch and bogey rating and multiplying by predetermined factors of 5.381 for men and 4.24 for women, we generate a Slope Rating.

A Slope Rating indicates the relative difficulty of a course for players who are not scratch golfers compared with the difficulty of the course for scratch players. The higher the Slope rating, the greater the expected difference there will be between the bogey golfer’s score and the scratch golfer’s score (hence, how a course can be relatively easy for a low handicapper and relatively difficult for a high handicapper). The advantage of the Slope Rating is that it is based on a sliding scale, allowing golfers of all abilities to accurately convert their Handicap Factor to a specific Course Handicap by referring to the Slope Conversion Charts provided at Golf Canada Member Clubs. You may be a 10 Course Handicap playing from the white tees at course X, but be a 12 Course Handicap playing the white tees at course Y.

Notice we haven’t mentioned par? That’s because par is irrelevant. Courses are rated to determine the number of strokes a golfer would be expected to take, regardless of the par of the golf course.

Now that we know a bit more about the Course and Slope Rating System, let’s identify some courses that are very difficult for both the scratch golfer and, relatively, even more difficult for the bogey golfer. (Based on play from the back tees).

Based on the ratings, the expected score of a scratch golfer playing the back tee at Lionhead – Legends would be just under 78. The expected score of a player with a 15.9 Handicap Factor would be just under 100!!!

Don’t forget, difficulty is not a good measurement for the enjoyment you will get from playing a course. Play from a tee that is suitable to your ability; you will have more fun, and the round will take a lot less time to play, which will make everyone happy.

The National Golf Club of Canada

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Portions of this blog were originally published in the September, 2010 edition of Golf Canada magazine.