Does Course Rating & Slope really matter?

[hackitup]

I don’t see any rhyme or reason looking at my scores. The ratings seem close enough that the score cluster makes sense, though. Especially when I look at how my game was trending and the differentials. I noticed this season was I scored worse on courses that took driver out of my hands either by length or design. ShotScope has my tee game as my best attribute so that makes sense. I play the local executive course the worst of any course in my rotation and it’s rated the easiest.

 

[MGoBlue]

I don’t think rating or slope matters as much as just playing a course from a yardage that suits your game.

See above.

 

[DataDude]

Oh it matters for sure. Longer courses usually have higher slopes and they also cause me to shoot higher scores.

 

[Nice 2]

See above.

I will admit to skimming the thread, but yardage is all we ever go with anymore. Don't pay much attention to slope/ratings. Not all courses are equal from similar yardage, but it’s what we go with. Days of playing from 7k plus yardage are over.

 

[Slowmo]

I’m like a few others in that all I look at is yardage. I really don’t understand rating and slope well enough for them to really matter. Where with yardage I know if it’s only 6100 I’m not going to hit any longer than a 9i all day if I drive the ball half decent.

 

[Bryndom]

They really inform what tee boxes are appropriate for me. I look at the slope and rating not to serve as a I should shoot this, but more of a, what will this round be like?

When I'm on vacation, I'm not opposed to playing the resort tees if the rating is a bit crazy

 

[blugold]

Yes?

 

[InTheRough]

I don't find the rating/slope to be a real factor. The main factor for me is how much water is on the course. I can hit the ball out of the trees. If the ball goes in the water it's a 1 stroke penalty, and I don't care if that course has a lower rating/slope.

 

[mantan]

I think slope is a great way for average golfers to pick tees and know which courses are equal. Our golf trip became more enjoyable when we just picked a target slope and played those tees regardless of color.

We had to do the same in a league I'm in. We have about 30 guys in it. We play courses all over town. The handicaps range from 3-18. We have found slope to be a lot more accurate on how a course will play for the group than yardage. We got burned a couple of times when we picked tees that were longer, but had a higher slope (looking at you, Creek Course at Indian Creek) because guys didn't want to play the white tees as they were 'only' 6200 yards. The slope on the blues was 137...which is going to be too difficult for most average golfers to score well and enjoy.

ICC has lots of dog legs, crowned green complexes, some difficult forced carries that you just don't see from a yardage number.

 

[MWard]

The slope doesn’t mean as much to me as the course rating. Even then, I’m more looking at distance and layouts more than that

 

[Daddio]

I think it largely depends WHY a course or set of tees earned its rating and slope and how those factors align with a golfers relative strengths and weaknesses. The numbers at some courses should track expected results relatively well for one golfer and not be predictive at all for another golfer with a similar cap but with a different distribution of strengths and weaknesses. Put the same two golfers on a different course rated due to different defenses and the numbers might be more predictive for the other golfer.

 

[KEV]

I don't think I really ever pay attention to course rating. I've played terrible at easy courses and great at hard courses and there's really no rhyme or reason to it.

 

[fuffle master]

I don’t think rating or slope matters as much as just playing a course from a yardage that suits your game.

I am a big believer in this distance is the true measure of how you play a course for your handicap and not rating

 

[blugold]

I am a big believer in this distance is the true measure of how you play a course for your handicap and not rating

If you are playing golf on a lot of golf course in the same general area, I can see that, but a 6500 yard course in Florida is a lot different than a 6500 yard course in Colorado. The rating is really not important, unless you're a scratch golfer, the slope will tell you more if you're a bogey golfer.

 

[fuffle master]

If you are playing golf on a lot of golf course in the same general area, I can see that, but a 6500 yard course in Florida is a lot different than a 6500 yard course in Colorado. The rating is really not important, unless you're a scratch golfer, the slope will tell you more if you're a bogey golfer.

Altitude and airflow definitely play a factor.

 

[blugold]

Altitude and airflow definitely play a factor.

Florida is all carry and Texas is all rollout.

I like to look at the par 4s. If I am seeing a lot of par 4s over 430, I'm probably too far back for it to be really enjoyable.

 

[Canadan]

I think it's a well considered system that does a poor job of traveling, and even poorer job representing the change in conditions that many face.

Thinking about my home course, if it's super calm vs 20mph sustained winds, the course plays WILDLY different, yet I've not yet seen a rating change on the day of posting for that.

Similarly, if they decide one day to double cut and roll the greens, the complexes become significantly more challenging and scores rise, yet again no change.

It's a brutal task to balance golf.

 

[MtlJeff]

It's always going to be a bit imperfect because some courses are rated tough but may suit you. There's a course around where i live that i used to joke was my handicap lowerer. All the trouble was on my easy side, big greens (i'm a great ballstriker and good lag putter, where i get into trouble is short game)....It was rated like 74-75 and i could always shoot a good number there

So, stuff like that happens

However, in the grand scheme of things, i would guess every golfer is gonna score better on the lower rated courses vs the higher ones

 

[MattyD-MPLS]

It matters for me. A hard course usually has penalty areas and bunkers in the right spot.

 

[ArmyGolf]

I find it makes a difference. If I play my game an a lower rated course I'll typically have a lower score than if I play my game on a higher rated course.

To me, slope is a number that I interpret as "ball losing factor". Rating is a little more murky to me but courses with high ratings tend to have longer par 3s and par 5s in my experience.

 

[USAF Retired]

I find courses near 140 slope aren't much for me.

 

[mikeg_74]

I’ll be honest, course rating and slope has always confused me. Maybe because it’s something I don’t look at when considering the course.

 

[tahoebum]

Course rating matters to how I score, slope has little correlation. @OldandStiff has already elaborated on this better than I can.

 

[Kmench]

I definitely look at ratting. I like to compare my score to the difficulty of the course and see how I did. So when I got to play Ballyhack and shot a 76 on a rating of 146, I was beyond stoked.

 

[blugold]

Rating - Yeah.

I pay zero attention to slope. It's all about the rating. That's how hard the course is. The baseline. The slope is just how much hard it is for some vs. the rating.

People go nuts over low scores, but it's all relative to rating. My old home course in NE was short, par 71, and rated less than 71, so I put up real low scores quite often. I play a lot bigger course now with ratings more like 74-76, so I don't average those same scores anymore, but the handicap hasn't really changed a lot. The courses where I drench the scorecard in red are all based on rating. One actually has a pretty high slope, but a good player can munch on it.

Course rating matters to how I score, slope has little correlation. @OldandStiff has already elaborated on this better than I can.

That's how I understand it. Rating matters the most to good players. The slope matters the lesser good players.