Slope and rating

[Marcos]

Who does the slope and rating in the Ottawa-Gatineau area? Are they with the CPGA and
how do they rate the courses. Are they all pros or scratch golfers or what?
Most importantly, how do they come up with the slope and what does it really mean?
I'm interrested in finding more about the system they employ to rate courses and not comparing one course with another.
Thanks

[BC MIST]

Who does the slope and rating in the Ottawa-Gatineau area? Are they with the CPGA and
how do they rate the courses. Are they all pros or scratch golfers or what?
Most importantly, how do they come up with the slope and what does it really mean?
I'm interrested in finding more about the system they employ to rate courses and not comparing one course with another.
Thanks

Golf courses are rated by trained volunteers, not CPGA pros, who have taken the appropriate course rating seminars. The OVGA has a course rating team that rates or re-rates 10 to 15 courses per season.

A course rating is based 90% on distance and the other 10% on other variables such as topography, hazards, bunkers, prevailing wind and so on. There are two ratings determined, one for a "scratch" golfer, (RCGA Course Rating) as defined in the handicap manual and one for a "bogey" golfer, also defined. The slope is merely a mathematical calculation of the bogey rating minus the scratch rating times 5.381 for men and 4.24 for women. The slope is an indication of relative difficulty of a course for golfers who are not scratch/experts.

There is obviously a high correlation between course rating and slope, but with some exceptions.

[imozzie]

Marcos - I like your questions....again, for info - not for criticism. While I know generally what they mean, I have no idea how they are arrived at. Hopefully, some of the 'techno-weenies' (...a 'loving' term, I assure you) of golf on the site can shed some light?>

[gbower]

The clubs that are members of the OVGA in the Ottawa-Gatineau area are rated by people within the OVGA that have had a fair bit of training and experience. They have set criteria that they follow and then the information is sent into either Golf Quebec or Golf Association of Ontario where the final calculations are done and the slope and rating are then sent back to the club. Clubs that are not part of Golf Canada do not have a rating and this is one of the big benefits of joining an organization like the OVGA. There is lots of information on slope and rating at the following web site.

http://popeofslope.com/

[Marcos]

I knew I could count on both you guys to clear this one up for me and i'm sure a lot of fellow members. This gives me a better understanding of who does this and how its rated.
Thanks to Lyle and Gerry.