Course Ratings / Slopes

[golfisforfun]

Just wondering what people think of the course ratings system...

I find there are some courses with very similar ratings/slopes but the courses play much differently.
Maybe someone can explain the slope and rating system to me.

I often play 3 courses, Stonebridge, Marshes and Equinelle and they are all similar yardage for the tees I pick (6450-6600) and they are at 71.3 Stonebridge, 71.0 Marshes and 71.2 Equinelle.

I can go play Stonebridge without a single struggle and shoot even par.
If I go play the marshes, I am closer to 78 and Equinelle is around 75 for me.

Does anybody else find ratings are a bit off for some courses?

Or is the other #s I need to look at, with SB at 133, M at 125 and E at 122... Does that show that Marshes is much easier?

[leftylucas]

Well, looking at both the course ratings and the slope is the way to go but in your case it seems that it is just the opposite of what the ratings are. I think there are a lot of factors to determine the ratings but some courses have our number and others we play better, just the way it is. I have my own list of higher rated courses that I play better than lower rated courses, that's golf I guess.

[Marcos]

To me, Equinelle is the easiest of those three. I guess when they rate them, they look at what kind of trouble you can get off the tee, narrow fairways,hazards,bunkers,size of greens etc.. Some of the courses we play are tight and dont leave much bail out room on mis so they are rated a bit harder to play. I am no pro but thats what i have herd.I'm sure some more people will know more about the rating system.

[mjf]

I think a lot of it comes down to certain courses playing to your particular strengths / weaknesses. For me, my problems are mostly getting the ball in play off the tee and I get better the closer I get to the green (greenside bunkers notwithstanding). So I find courses like Stonebridge and Equinelle relatively easy. Loch March, on the other hand, frequently kills me because it punishes bad tee shots and even marginal ones.

[jvincent]

Just wondering what people think of the course ratings system...

I find there are some courses with very similar ratings/slopes but the courses play much differently.
Maybe someone can explain the slope and rating system to me.

If you read the handicapping manual on the Golf Canada website it explains how the ratings / slope are determined.

One thing to be aware of is that length is by far the biggest determiner. Other factors such as hazards, prevailing conditions, etc are also factored in based on a subjective assessment of the course raters, but length is still the #1 factor.

I personally believe that there is a much better way to do the whole rating/slope thing using topographical maps and math which would take out any bias from the course ratings but that ship has long since sailed.