Course ratings

[fourlights]

Who is responsible for rating the courses in our region? I think that some of the courses are so out of whack with each other it's laughable. For example, Anderson Links has a rating/slope of 71.1/129 from the blues, which would make it harder than Loch March 70/124.9 and Stonebridge 68.8/129 ???? I know the criteria for rating holes and courses and it seems that there is too much of a gap in interpretation of the criteria. Anderson Links is one of the easiest courses I have played in the region, and is rated as one of the most difficult. Strange.

[nokids]

Loch March is underrated for sure.

[goochy]

Loch March doesn't have an official rating

[nokids]

Loch March doesn't have an official rating

i know, but for my unofficial handicap i use the slope/rating on their scorecard.

i'm guessing that clublink courses must be rated very accurately. dont they have a close relationship with GolfCanada and all their course ratings are up to date?

[jvincent]

If the course is an RCGA member then it will have a "proper" rating since that service is provided to member courses. Even for those courses there are always discussions about how one course can be rated higher than another.

The primary factor in determining a rating is length so in theory, two courses of equal length but one wide open and another with lots of trouble should have different ratings/slopes.

If you want a good gauge of ratings accuracy, check the Citizen scores for Eagle Creek and Loch March. The statistical sample of golfers is large enough that they can be used for comparison.

[justsomeguy]

i know, but for my unofficial handicap i use the slope/rating on their scorecard.

i'm guessing that clublink courses must be rated very accurately. dont they have a close relationship with GolfCanada and all their course ratings are up to date?

Courses are re-rated when there are significant changes to the course or every 10 years. The relationship with Golf Canada has nothing to do with it.

[jeffc]

if you want to lower your index, play Anderson Links on a regular basis.

[goochy]

i'm guessing that clublink courses must be rated very accurately. dont they have a close relationship with GolfCanada and all their course ratings are up to date?

lol....not sure about that mate. I think another issue is how a course sets up for your eye. and your game

For example, at Greyhawk, Talon is rated a more difficult course than Predator. However, personally I always seem to score better on Talon, it just suits my game a little better I guess (especially if the wind is blowing, then Predator can play very tough despite it's lower rating).

I know the RCGA has a formula for rating courses but I think all these discussion about course ratings matching their real difficulty is very subjective because on a personal level it just comes down to your game.

As an aside we must get out soon...it's been ages mate

[justsomeguy]

As an aside we must get out soon...it's been ages mate

You can join me on Monday morning if you like.

[mjf]

I can't comment about Anderson Links since I've never played there. But I've felt for some time that the course rating at Loch March (official or not) is inaccurate. In my opinion, it's close to 2 strokes too low.

As jvincent said, it'll be interesting to see the scoring average in round 2 of the Citizen tournament. I believe Eagle Creek was recently re-rated. I suspect the rating for the combination of tees we played yesterday would be about 73.0. For Loch March the rating will be around 71 I think. Anybody want to bet that the scoring average at Loch March is going to be 2 strokes lower?

BTW: There's a pretty good description of how the USGA determines slope and course rating here:
http://golf.about.com/cs/rulesofgolf..._determine.htm