Jim Parr

On January 1, 1987, the USGA implemented the "Slope System" to help each golfer fairly move their handicap from course to course. Slope allowed you to set a "fair" match with strokes when you visited your friends or kept handicaps equitable when your group traveled! This system adjusts a players handicap index according to the relative difficulty of the golf course played. Harder course...more strokes!

Prior to Slope, golf courses were rated only for the scratch player with no consideration given to the average or higher handicapped players. Under the Slope System courses are rated as to difficulty for both the scratch and bogie golfers as each face the obstacles the course holds for them. A "scratch male golfer" has a zero handicap, hits driver 250 yards (210 for Women) and can hit second shots another 220 yards (190 for Women). The "bogie male golfer" has a 20 handicap, hits it 200 yards off the tee (150 for Women) and can hit a 170 yard (130 for Women) second shot.

A course rating is based on yardage, effective playing length corrections and ten obstacles. These ten obstacles are evaluated to the extent they come into play and how difficult to recover. Each obstacle is rated on a scale of 0-10 with "0" if the obstacle does not exist (no water on a hole) and "7-10" if it is of major concern. Observation and actual measurements are the tools of a course rater! So, what obstacles are checked by the rating team?

• Topography (stance, lie and height changes)
• Fairway (length, width, problems)
• Green Target (size, surface, visibility, firmness)
• Rough and Recovery
• Bunkers
• Out of Bounds/ Extreme Rough
• Water Hazards
• Trees
• Green Surface (speed and contour)
• Psychological

All are observed, measured and rated!

Who rates courses in Florida? Your fellow FSGA golfers. There are 18 teams of men and 13 of women spread throughout the state...all well trained volunteers. My team of eleven raters covers Sarasota and Manatee counties. We provide the men's course ratings and slope for the courses in our area (about 90 courses) and often provide accurate hole measurements. So the next time you see a team of FSGA course raters out on your golf course, please know that we are trying to provide a fair course rating and slope so that you get all the strokes you deserve!