How do golf course ratings/slope affect your game?

[Bullitt5339]

Since my return to golf, I've had the pleasure of traveling and playing a lot of courses with THPers and I was noticing that my handicap really isn't moving much, even though my game is severely off right now. I'm currently at a 21.4 from a 20 9 months ago and I've shot some really high scores since I've come back. Plenty of rounds in the 106-108 range.

But looking at these stats, I've noticed something really odd about my game since I've returned. I've played on courses with slopes from 113-135 in the past couple of months and noticed that all of my really bad scores are on courses rated 113-118 and the rounds where I've broken 100 were on courses with ratings over 130. My best round since my return has been a 91, shot on a course with a rating of 126.

This seems completely backwards from what I'd expect. I'd think that in the shape of my current game, I would put up super high scores on courses over 130.

 

[emart2173]

I honestly don't pay attention to the ratings/slope. I can hit bad shots on any course and in my effort to take any distractions out of my head and remain focused on positive thinking and just doing what I can control I have started only looking at holes and what I want to accomplish shot wise.

 

[rollin]

but you must remember slope is only relative to the rating. Its the number for how much harder the course is suggested to be for the bogey player vs the scratch player. A 125 slope on a course/tee with a 69 rating vs a 125 slope on a course/tee with a 73 rating is quite different when of course both rating and slope are used in calculating ones cap.
If one shoots a 90 at both places he/she has a 21 differential at the 69 rated course and yet a 17 differential at the 73 rated course. Both places have the same slope number but that number has no relevance to each other. The difficulty is far from the same at each course.

There are some problems with the less than perfect system in general and much of which has been very recently brought up in another long and good thread. But regardless and generally speaking a 125 slope at several courses (to reiterate) does not mean those courses are of similar difficulty.

Also if I may add, the higher the cap I think it safe to assume the more erratic our scores. As long as one isn't necessarily hurting a lot in the distance department we can shoot our best or worst rounds on either more difficult or easier courses with no real sense to it for matching (within reason) course difficulty . I can hypothetically shoot an 87 tomoro and a 101 the next day and yet shoot the 101 from my normal middle tees and shoot the 88 from the tips with the higher rating and higher slope. My play is still just too erratic to make perfect sense of it.

 

[Tedfroop]

I play as well as usual on a higher slope courses as I do at home. Mind you my home course is a pretty unforgiving for a 121 slope in a lot of places and the slope doesn't show it, in my opinion. Then on the other side of the coin playing an unforgiving course teaches you about playing to stay out of trouble.
Scores are always better where I have played before no matter the slope. I can plan my way around to avoid trouble better the second time around.

 

[tequila4kapp]

but you must remember slope is only relative to the rating. Its the number for how much harder the course is suggested to be for the bogey player vs the scratch player.

This. Also, remember it is the difference for the average bogey golfer. It is always possible that a course offers hazards which are problematic to most bogey golfers but not us.

 

[kc720]

Course ratings do not mean much to me. I can shoot a bunch on any course lol

 

[rollin]

I play as well as usual on a higher slope courses as I do at home. Mind you my home course is a pretty unforgiving for a 121 slope in a lot of places and the slope doesn't show it, in my opinion. Then on the other side of the coin playing an unforgiving course teaches you about playing to stay out of trouble.
Scores are always better where I have played before no matter the slope. I can plan my way around to avoid trouble better the second time around.

But to that statement I put in bold above. Here again (and perhaps you didn't mean it this way) but it seems to indicate as though we are comparing other courses slopes against each other. That 121 slope of your home course is not meant to use as a guideline when comparing it to other courses. Its only relative to only the scratch rating of its own (in this case your home) course.

With that said, If both "rating and slope" are the same at two different courses, only then would it be fair to compare and even state how one might feel that they may have gotten things wrong. There is human judgment and discretion involved and the rating system is certainly not without flaw. But regardless of that in general you cannot compare slope against slope when viewing different courses but can only compare slope relative to its own course rating.

 

[Miller Time]

I think most slope ratings are pretty off. As long as I don't look before the round, it doesn't play with my head at all.

 

[cpljohnst]

I think most slope ratings are pretty off. As long as I don't look before the round, it doesn't play with my head at all.

This! Played two courses this weekend that were new to me. One was 127 slope and the other was 128. With similar game each day I shot much better on the 128 course. The 127 had far more water hazards, forced carries and bunkers. The 127 course was far more difficult I thought.

 

[NullNomad]

I don't get wrapped up in those numbers. The only slope I pay attention to and worry about is the ground. Usually when I am in a bunker or in the rough with my left foot 2 feet above my right foot.

 

[rollin]

This! Played two courses this weekend that were new to me. One was 127 slope and the other was 128. With similar game each day I shot much better on the 128 course. The 127 had far more water hazards, forced carries and bunkers. The 127 course was far more difficult I thought.

We will always find courses that seem rated wrong and I agree but let me ask you what is the scratch rating on those courses?

 

[cpljohnst]

We will always find courses that seem rated wrong and I agree but let me ask you what is the scratch rating on those courses?

Very similar again.

70.8/128
70.4/127

I thought the top course was much easier. The top course is slightly longer, just about 100 yards.

 

[pattyboy21]

I was a member of Walden on Lake Houston CC, and members always complain about the difficulty of the course. The rating and slope also suggest the course is difficult. The problem with Walden is that, if you take it on with driver every hole, you WILL find trouble. I tended to play that course using my driver only 3 times; the rest were with hybrids and 4-irons. Even with the shorter clubs from the tee, I would still have 130 - 160 yards in on most holes.

So I would shoot a bunch of mid-70 rounds. The only problem was that my handicap sunk very low (1.5 - 3.3). I feel like day in and day out, I'm a 5-handicap. So yes, the rating and slope at Walden had the affect of giving me an unrealistically low handicap.

Now at Atascocita, the reverse is true. The course rating and slope are more reflective of the course, but since it has reopened, the greens have been extremely firm and fast. This has made my handicap shoot up as getting up-and-down has been very difficult.

 

[Hawk]

I think a high slope rating can make for a pseudo-index if you play it often enough and it ends up hurting your game when you travel.

Case in point would be my old club. Once I figured out where not to miss and how to putt on the very difficult greens I saw a pretty quick drop in my scores, but they didn't translate elsewhere all that well.

 

[ArmyGolf]

I think a high slope rating can make for a pseudo-index if you play it often enough and it ends up hurting your game when you travel.

Case in point would be my old club. Once I figured out where not to miss and how to putt on the very difficult greens I saw a pretty quick drop in my scores, but they didn't translate elsewhere all that well.

I can't agree with this enough. Forming your cap on a high slope home track is a recipe for disaster when traveling.

 

[cpljohnst]

I think a high slope rating can make for a pseudo-index if you play it often enough and it ends up hurting your game when you travel.

Case in point would be my old club. Once I figured out where not to miss and how to putt on the very difficult greens I saw a pretty quick drop in my scores, but they didn't translate elsewhere all that well.

I can't agree with this enough. Forming your cap on a high slope home track is a recipe for disaster when traveling.

While I think this is possible, I've found the reverse true for myself. I play high slope tracks for my home course. The higher difficulty shots required with forced carries, lots of bunkering, makes me a better golfer when I go to lower sloped courses.

 

[Hawk]

While I think this is possible, I've found the reverse true for myself. I play high slope tracks for my home course. The higher difficulty shots required with forced carries, lots of bunkering, makes me a better golfer when I go to lower sloped courses.

Yea, I think it depends on how you handle the course to some extent. My ball striking didn't get any better for example, but my knowledge of the layout did and I was able to play it conservatively enough that I kept a lot of big numbers away. When I went elsewhere I'd see similar scores that were above where I theoretically should have been scoring on a lower sloped course. A 90 at one would get me a 13 differential, where a 90 elsewhere would be more like a 16-18 (just random numbers I'm tossing out).

The guy that plays a difficult course and is able to become a better shotmaker certainly would gain some advantage like you were saying.

 

[Tedfroop]

I can't agree with this enough. Forming your cap on a high slope home track is a recipe for disaster when traveling.

...and to my point, playing on an average slope course can make you feel really good when you play to your usual score at a bunch of places that slope higher and your factor drops a couple points in a week.

Yea, I think it depends on how you handle the course to some extent. My ball striking didn't get any better for example, but my knowledge of the layout did and I was able to play it conservatively enough that I kept a lot of big numbers away. When I went elsewhere I'd see similar scores that were above where I theoretically should have been scoring on a lower sloped course. A 90 at one would get me a 13 differential, where a 90 elsewhere would be more like a 16-18 (just random numbers I'm tossing out).

The guy that plays a difficult course and is able to become a better shotmaker certainly would gain some advantage like you were saying.

Exactly. When you chart your way around and avoid the big trouble you can score decently at a high slope place which can make you look better on the adjusted scorecard than what your factor shows.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Exactly. When you chart your way around and avoid the big trouble you can score decently at a high slope place which can make you look better on the adjusted scorecard than what your factor shows.

But skilled play is more than just hitting perfect shots. It is about managing the course to shoot the best score possible. Charting ones way around the course to avoid trouble is playing good golf.

 

[Tedfroop]

But skilled play is more than just hitting perfect shots. It is about managing the course to shoot the best score possible. Charting ones way around the course to avoid trouble is playing good golf.

Funny part is we all take the time to do it at a high slope course but not at an average slope place......

 

[cpljohnst]

Exactly. When you chart your way around and avoid the big trouble you can score decently at a high slope place which can make you look better on the adjusted scorecard than what your factor shows.

This is very true. I think at any course someone plays regularly there are going to be "strokes gained" by familiarity and experience. We learn where to hit and where not to hit. We learn the breaks on the greens. We learn our distances for those pesky holes that tend to play a club longer or shorter than the distance would seem.

Here is my current revision. Only 6 course in my last 20 were "away". Only 2 of my away scores count in my low last 10. Playing a difficult high sloped home club has helped me play better away, but I still play my home course better due to all the experience I have there.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

I can't agree with this enough. Forming your cap on a high slope home track is a recipe for disaster when traveling.

And I would also say the opposite can be true - if you play a course that's sloped/rated too low, you end up with an extra stroke or two on your handicap which could conceivably help when traveling (or get you called a sandbagger lol).

 

[Tedfroop]

This is very true. I think at any course someone plays regularly there are going to be "strokes gained" by familiarity and experience. We learn were to hit and were not to hit. We learn the breaks on the greens. We learn our distances for those pesky holes that tend to play a club longer or shorter than the distance would seem.

Totally agree. It's one of the things the slope system does not take into account.

 

[rollin]

there is imo of course something to be said for being home. Course familiarity and just an outright comfortableness for being home is not without its due. As Dorothy would say "There's no place like home".

But for some of the things being mentioned here I would suggest the idea that it is very possible for one to perform better on a harder golf course. Sometimes imo a given course just fits better for and individual even though it may technically be a more difficult one. I say that within reason of course.

But things like the distances one hits all his clubs (I don't just mean driver or being long) and the way one choses to manage his/her game just may fit in better at a given golf course vs another regardless (within reason) of difficulty. Its much like the same logic of when/why players may change up their bag for a given golf course. They try to match their bag line up so it better suits their anticipated needs for that course. Most of us amateurs ,weekend hackers are (with some exceptions) are not that good. We don't adapt as easily nor do most of us change our bag. We just play our set of clubs and try to manage not blowing up and whatever our style of play or style of managing we do will just coincidentally by default work better at some courses and not so much at others even if rating/slope dictates otherwise.

Its similar imo like when one has a given few holes he always does very well on even though they may be harder holes. They simply fit that person better. Or the opposite happens and they have a given hole or two that always kills them. Many times such holes could be either the harder or easier holes on the course and yet you perform the opposite way on those holes. Just fits better or worse for your distances, style, your choices , your mindset and general comfort playing those holes. To some degree I think the same can be said (not just about a hole or three) but about a golf course in general.

 

[dhartmann34]

I don't even look at course slopes or ratings. The only thing that has an effect on my game is my own mind and concentration. The only thing I would mention though is a lot of times the higher rated courses seem to have better conditions.... And I usually play better when the course is in better shape.