How Tough Is Your Course?
The final major golf event of 2012 is upon us, the PGA Championship. The contestants will be playing what might be one of the most difficult golf courses in the United States, if not the world.
With a slope of 144 and rating of 77.3 it is very apparent that Kiawah Islands Ocean Course, site of the PGA Championship, is a very challenging test of golf. What is slope and rating you ask? The slope, very simply is the measurement of how difficult a golf course plays. The higher this number gets, the more difficult the course. Looking at the golf course and taking every possible aspect of play into consideration calculate slope. Looking at such factors as length, elevation changes, number of bunkers, water hazards, areas of out of bounds, the overall width of fairways, Greenland contours of greens, the speed the greens putt, how tall the rough is, and the list goes on and on.
What does this mean to you? Well, it gives you a great aspect of the challenge you will face before you ever step foot on the first tee. Most golf courses in the US average a slope of 113. You may play at courses that are at this number, and even below. Many of the newer facilities can start achieving an overall slope that is well into the 130’s, and sometimes in the 140’s, these courses will test the skill of any golfer
The rating is an average of what a scratch golfer would typically shoot for a round of golf at that facility. If the course has a par of 72, and the rating is for example 74.1, then at is telling you that a scratch, or par golfer, will typically shoot around a 74, or 2 over par on any given day. Now obviously, all players will have good and bad days, but this is a great guide for golfers to analyze how they will be able to play on a particular course.
When you are playing a facility that has multiple sets of tees, each tee will have its own slope and rating assigned to it. Make sure that you look at the numbers and select the tee that most suits your abilities. If you are a player who struggles to break 100, it wouldn’t be the most advantageous for you to play a golf course from the back tee. You fell not only frustrate yourself, because your golf game isn’t up for e challenge, bit you will probably irritate you fellow golfers by making them wait for you.
Now that you have a clearer understanding of what a slope and rating is for a golf course, and how this can directly affect your golf game, make sure you took at the slope and ratings the next time you play golf and get on the correct tee that fits your game. You’ll be glad you did.