A hard course has a higher course rating, with very hard courses having a course rating 3+ strokes higher than par. The slope rating doesn't tell you how hard a golf course is, it just tells you how much easier the course is for a scratch golfer than a bogey golfer.
Full Answer
Is golf easy or hard on the course?
Look around the driving range, and I bet you will see many golfers doing what is easy. Gentle swing, towards the target, repeat. On it goes. No wonder it feels hard when they get out on the course. The real world of the golf course is not like that. In any round of golf, some situations will be hard.
Why is golf such a hard sport to play?
Maintaining your physical abilities and staying mentally sharp and focused for 4+ hours is hard. In short, golf is all about chasing perfection which is impossible in the first place. Originally Answered: Why is golf such a hard sport? Anything and everything in life that is worth pursuing is both easy and impossible. Golf is easy.
How hard is the difficulty of your golf reviews?
About 35% of our reviews have a difficulty rating, giving us more than 350,000 ratings dating back to September of 2012. Our community's skill level in golf is pretty reflective of the overall avid, amateur golf population: The resulting 50 courses include watery southeast courses, undulating mountain courses and tactical desert courses.
Is it different on the golf course than on the course?
But it is very different from when you are out on the course. On the golf course, there is more pressure. You cannot repeat your shot to get it perfect. You have to move on to the next hole. As you move around the course, you will be faced with new challenges.
What does the quote "The course is tough but sometimes tough can bring out the best" mean?
Who determines golfer's choice rankings?
How many options are there in a golf review?
What is the hardest hole in Michigan?
Who said keep it in the fairway as the rough is deceptively hard to find your ball in?
Do RTJ putts break one way or the other?
Can you hit the fairways without much trouble?
See more
About this website
How would you describe a golf course?
A golf course is the grounds where the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". The cup holds a flagstick, known as a "pin".
What is considered a hard golf course?
What is a hard slope rating? If we know that the average slope rating of a golf course is 113, we can deduce that any golf course with a slope rating higher than 113 is more difficult than the average course. Don't be intimidated if you see a slope rating that is above 113.
How is the difficulty of a golf course measured?
The Course Slope predicts the difficulty of a course for a “bogey” golfer, someone who shoots 18 over par or 90. Course Slope is a number between 55 and 155, with 113 being the average. The higher the number the more difficult the course. As with course rating each set of tees will have a slope rating.
What is the hardest slope in golf?
155 Slope RatingWhen played from the back tees, The International is ranked as the hardest golf layout in the U.S. according to all three ratings. It has an unrivaled 81.7 Course Rating, a 155 Slope Rating and a Bogey Rating of 112.2.
How do you read a golf course rating?
The Course Rating is a number, close to par for the course, and is expressed with a single decimal digit. For example: If par for a course is 72, it's Course Rating might be 71.4. Rating values go up with difficulty.
How does a golf course rating work?
The Course Rating is calculated from the effective playing length and obstacle factors for 9 or 18 designated holes. The Course Rating is expressed in strokes to one decimal point and represents the expected score for a scratch player. The Bogey Rating represents the expected score for a bogey player.
What does golf course slope mean?
Slope merely tells you how “proportionately” more difficult that particular set of tees plays for the higher handicapped golfers as opposed to lower handicapped golfers. The more difficult the tees play proportionately for the higher handicappers, the greater the Slope rating that will be issued. That's it!
Is a higher slope rating harder?
The higher the slope number, the harder the course is for the bogey golfer relative to the difficulty of the course for the scratch golfer. Slope numbers can range anywhere between 55 and 155 with the average slope in the United States being 120.
What is slope and course rating?
Course Ratings represent the difficulty of a golf course for the scratch player under normal conditions. Slope Ratings represent the difference in difficulty for all other players, compared to the scratch player. Course Ratings are carried out by qualified teams, and assume normal course and weather conditions.
Is Augusta a tough course?
Augusta is a challenging golf course, but not in the usual eye-watering tight, tree-lined fairways, greens surrounded by water and vegetation sort of way. Its difficulty is mostly due to gravity.
Is an 84 a good golf score?
Good, based on what is average, is 90 strokes for every 18 holes played. This “good” golf score is based on playing a round of golf on an industry standard par 72 course. If a golfer stays within (assuming they are an amateur) scoring a 90-108 stroke (maximum), they are within the 'good golf score' range.
What is the hardest course in the world?
Here is a list of the 10 most difficult courses in the world all students should know about.Engineering. ... Chartered Accountancy. ... Medicine. ... Pharmacy. ... Architecture. ... Law. ... Psychology. ... Statistics.More items...•
America's Toughest Tee Times: The Hardest 'Get' in Every State
These courses represent 50 of the-toughest-to-score tee times in the land, one elusive layout for each state in the union.
What are the slope and course rating in golf?
While frequently unused by new or casual golfers, slope and course rating are two of golf’s most important, and most commonly confused numbers. These two numbers might be a seemingly random arrangement of numbers on your scorecard, but in reality , they are two of the great equalizers in the game of golf.
What is the scorecard for a golf course?
This scorecard shows the course rating (first number) and slope rating (second number) for each set of tees at a course.
What is the average scratch golf score?
It turns out that that statistically, no matter how easy or hard a course is, scratch golfers will almost always shoot in the high 60’s to low 70’s. While this might not seem like a big deal, having a very narrow spread of scores even on courses that are much easier or harder than average ones creates a rating that underestimates changes in course difficulties for the rest of the golfing population. However, they also realized that this phenomenon was the exact opposite for mid-high handicap golfers. While one course might only play slightly harder in the eyes of a scratch golfer, less proficient golfers might find their scores to be significantly higher on this new, harder course.
How to calculate handicap for a course?
If you’re interested in calculating your handicap for a particular course, multiply your handicap by the course rating divided by 113. This will adjust your handicap to the difficulty of the course.
How often are golf course slope ratings re-evaluated?
While the course and slope ratings of a golf course are unlikely to change dramatically, they are usually re-evaluated every 4-5 years.
Is golf a difficult game?
As you may have figured out already, golf is a difficult game and contains a very wide range of golfers, each with very different levels of skill. In the mid 80’s the USGA started to catch on to this big divide between scratch or professional golfers and mid to high handicap golfers.
Is 72 a good slope rating for scratch golf?
For example, if you have two courses that each have a course rating of 72, they should be the same difficulty for a scratch golfer. However, if bogey-golfers on course A averages a score of 90 while bogey-golfers on course B average a score of 95 the slope rating for course B would be higher than for course A; indicating a higher level of difficulty for higher handicap players.
How hard is a golf course?
A hard course has a higher course rating, with very hard courses having a course rating 3+ strokes higher than par. The slope rating doesn't tell you how hard a golf course is, it just tells you how much easier the course is for a scratch golfer than a bogey golfer. A par 72 course with a 63/150 rating would still be an easy course, it just would be more difficult for bogey golfers than it would be for scratch golfers (scratch golfers would be expected to shoot more than 18 strokes better than a bogey golfer there). Similarly a course with a 77/90 rating would not be an easy course, it's just that you'd expect the difference between a scratch golfer and a bogey golfer to be less than 18 strokes.
How is course rating determined?
The course rating is determined by a combination of course length and obstacles, so I can see that your course has many challenges.
What is a bogey rating?
So, it helps to look at the bogey rating of the course you are playing. Bogey rating is analogous to course rating, except instead of using a scratch golfer's characteristics, a "bogey golfer" is used. A course such as yours with a 72.8/149 rating, has a bogey rating of 100.5! So your scores are well under that, which is great. You are doing well, even though I know it maybe doesn't feel that way all the time.
What is the maximum slope rating for a golf course?
That's a very abnormally high slope rating, at least compared to the majority of even difficult courses. For reference, the maximum possible slope is 155. If I had to guess I'd assume that while it's not a long course, it probably has lots of forced carries longer than what the average bogey golfer is expected to hit the ball that would raise the course's bogey rating (in addition to heavily penalizing misses and having small greens).
How many strokes does a scratch player get at Torrey Pines South?
A scratch player at Torrey Pines South, playing the tips, gets 7 strokes. That sounds pretty tough!
How many slopes does the back tee have?
The back tees are like 74.1 and 148 slope. And even the pro thought it was a little under-rated.
What does it mean when your differential is zero?
If you are scratch, your differential is zero. So that means that you are shooting at the course rating. With it being near zero, the slope doesn't matter as much.
What is a golf course rating?
Golf Course Rating Definition: The evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions. It is expressed as the number of strokes taken to one decimal place (72.5), and is based on yardage and other obstacles to the extent that they affect the scoring difficulty of the scratch golfer.
How does the USGA determine the rating of a golf course?
To determine the Rating of a course the USGA measures several factors for each hole on the golf courses. The process examines every facet of a hole and its playability.
What is the difference between a scratch golfer and a bogey golfer?
Here is the difference between a scratch golfer and a bogey golfer according to the USGA: Scratch Golfer : A male scratch golfer is a player who can play to a Course Handicap of zero on any and all rated golf courses. A male scratch golfer, for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two shots.
How many yards can a scratch golfer hit?
A male scratch golfer, for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two shots. A female scratch golfer is a player who can play to a Course Handicap of zero on any and all rated golf courses. A female scratch golfer, for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 210 yards ...
What are the obstacles in golf?
Obstacle factors: topography, fairway, green target, recoverability and roughs, water hazards, out of bounds, trees, green surface, and psychology. Each obstacle is assigned a value of 0 to 10, depending on its relation to how a scratch or bogey golfer would play the hole.
What does 72 mean in golf?
In conclusion, a golf course rating farther below 72 means an easier golf course. If you see a golf course rating lower than 69 from the white tees, prepare for a fun day of lower scores.
How often does the USGA evaluate golf courses?
I know this makes my head spin but I am sure the USGA has a wicked big spreadsheet to crunch the numbers. The USGA evaluates each golf course every ten years in addition new golf courses complete the evaluation every five years.
What is the concept of golf?
The concept of golf is pretty straightforward and simple. You get a large stick and a small ball. All you have to do is hit the ball with the stick into a hole. It does not seem to be that hard; does it?
Why is being fit important in golf?
Being fit in those areas help land a perfect shot towards the target. They help you to get a stable shot throughout the backswing as well as the downswing. Even the smallest amount of error would throw you off the target. This is due to golf being a sport of precision.
How long has Ben been playing golf?
Ben's been golfing since he could walk. He played competitively through High School and then took a break. Now that he's living in the adult world and can afford to play every once and a while, he's gaining his natural feel for the game again. Ben has reacquired his passion for the game and wants to share the golf improvement journey with you. FORE!!!
How do we talk about sports?
When we talk about any kind of sports, we start by talking about the individual skills required for it. Usually, the amount of difficulty is changed by your skills and ability to reduce mistakes. In case of golf, perhaps more than any other sport equipment matters a great deal.
Is golf physically challenging?
At first glance, golf does not appear to be very challenging physically. Yet, the golf can get as physically challenging as any other sport. If we compare golf with other games in terms of burning calories, we will understand better.
Is golf hard?
When playing, you have to consider the course mapping, distance from the target, wind direction and various other things. So, golf itself is not that hard but everything else related to it gives that hard factor.
Can you become good at golf through practice?
It goes for anything you would want to learn that you have to practice! There is no shortcut to learning a skill properly other than practice. As the saying goes, “ Practice makes perfect”, you can only become good at golf through practice.
Mentally Challenging
Practicing on the driving range or playing a round of golf can be a mental grind. Many aspects of the game can tire a golfer’s mind making it difficult to stay focused or process information quickly and thoroughly which can lead to bad decision making and errant shots.
Physically Demanding
Golf requires coordinated physical exertion from everyone that participates, which comes easier for some and not for others.
Emotionally Draining
Playing a round of golf is like riding an emotional rollercoaster, one minute your heart is throbbing in your chest as you nervously sweat over a difficult breaking putt to save par and the next minute you’re excitedly jumping for joy because the putt you just made was for your lowest score ever.
There Are Many Elements to the Golf Swing
Falling under the physically demanding category, properly executing the many different elements of the golf swing makes golf hard. Here are the six major components of the golf swing and each one of them requires precise execution to achieve the desired result.
Many Types of Clubs to Master
A golfer is allowed to carry a maximum of 14 clubs in their golf bag. They can construct any combination of clubs they want as long as each club conforms to the Rules of Golf.
Golf Courses Are Designed to be Challenging
Golf courses are inherently designed to challenge all golfers so they must develop a strategy that takes advantage of their skills in order to overcome the golf course’s design challenges.
Weather Conditions Add Variability
While there are many sports played outdoors, many would be hard-pressed to say they are influenced more by the weather than golf. Fluctuations in weather conditions can make the same golf course seem completely different.
What does the quote "The course is tough but sometimes tough can bring out the best" mean?
What they're saying: " The course is tough, but sometimes tough can bring out the best. In this case, it brings out the best San Antonio has to offer." - joshsmith12
Who determines golfer's choice rankings?
Golfer's Choice rankings are determined by our community of reviewers.
How many options are there in a golf review?
We pored over more than 1 million reviews at Golf Advisor to uncover the most difficult public golf courses according to you, our reviewer community. When you write a review, one of the optional fields is "Course Difficulty." There are five choices, and we converted each option (from Extremely Easy to Extremely Difficult) into a numerical rating from 1 to 5 to determine an average difficulty score for each public golf course in the United States.
What is the hardest hole in Michigan?
What they're saying: " The view around the course is off the charts. The 5th hole par 5 may be the hardest hole in Michigan." - silguezi
Who said keep it in the fairway as the rough is deceptively hard to find your ball in?
Architect: Dick Wilson, Gil Hanse. What they're saying: "Keep it in the fairway as the rough is deceptively hard to find your ball in, and the steepness of the slopes from greens to water makes any shots over or just off the green a surprising lost ball into water or rough!". - phojes10.
Do RTJ putts break one way or the other?
What they're saying: "As is usual with a RTJ set-up, there are very few flat spots on the green and almost all putts break one way or the other or both ways." - KJH88
Can you hit the fairways without much trouble?
What they're saying: "You can hit most fairways without much trouble, but you need to put your tee shot in a spot that'll set you up with a good shot at the green." - noahjurik
What is it like to be out on the golf course?
When you are out on the course, you have to make decisions every few minutes. You do not know where the ball will land, so each new shot is a new problem. This is what makes golf so sometimes challenging, so frustrating, and often so much fun.
Why should I bother with the driving range?
The obvious question which follows is, “Why should I bother with the driving range?” There are a lot of reasons. One is that you cannot get out on the course every day. Another is that each shot is focused practice. Getting that one shot right is something you want to do.
What happens if you miss a shot on the driving range?
You mis-hit, and the ball flies off into the rough. Now you are in trouble, and it will take a couple of shots to get out. That doesn’t feel good. If you mis-hit on the driving range, you think differently.
How to improve golf game?
I would suggest you concentrate on the weakest part of your game, then find a good coach to work on this. When the coach has given you the tools you need to improve, get out to the driving range and practice. Then book a round of golf out on the course and get out and play. Do it in this order. The lesson, driving range practice, play. Then move on to another weakness of your game. This structured approach will pay off.
How does practice help in golf?
You will find it easier to remember what you have learned. And, most importantly, you will see that long walk from the driving range to the golf course much more manageable. Your practice will be more similar to your game, and this will help.
Can driving range help you improve?
Practice on the driving range can help you improve your game, but it is not the be all and end all. Nothing can compete with getting out on a golf course and playing some real rounds.
Is it dangerous to hit on the driving range?
There is a danger when you get on the driving range. The tendency is to do only blocked practice. I bet you have done this, and I bet you have seen other people doing it. You take one club, often a seven or a five iron, and aim at a target. You keep hitting with the same club with the same goal in mind. That is limiting your improvement and making it hard for you to retain what you have learned.
How far is a tenth of an inch in golf?
So to get good, you have to spend a small (sometimes not-so-small) fortune. A tenth of an inch in golf can translate to 50yards at the end of the ball's flight. It's literally a game of millimeters. The ball is an inch and a half across, and the hole is about 4.5 inches across, all while it's 500 yards away.
How many holes does it take to hit a golf ball?
Only it turns out that hitting the ball exactly how you want to, consistently over 18 holes (or 72), is monumentally difficult. Golf has a high skill floor.
What is the rational golf technique?
The only rational golf technique that makes golf tolerably “easy” is the recently resurrected “single plane” technique, often attributed to Canadian golf immortal, Moe Norman. It goes against virtually every principle taught by PGA golf professionals. But it make you a consistent golfer.
How many body parts does a golf swing require?
The golf swing is incredibly complex, requiring complete control over at least six different body parts, with the loss of control of any one of them often resulting in a disastrous shot. The ONLY way to be a. Continue Reading. It is virtually impossible to learn to play golf well as an adult.
How long does it take to play 18 holes?
With golf, you may take 4 1/2 hours to play 18 holes, but are only over the ball for at most 4–5 minutes a round, and are in your swing anywhere from 1–3 minutes a round. What this does is give your mind a tremendous amount of leverage on how well you play.
Do golfers play well?
Only a tiny percentage of golfers can actually play golf well. The rest are the deluded, the hopers, the questers, the jokesters, the competitors, the disciples, the gamblers, the partiers (there are a lot of them), the socialites . . . they all play, and they all suck at it. Because golf is indeed hard.
Is it easy to play golf?
To play golf is easy, if you want to go to a driving range or a pitch and putt then golf can be very easy to play. Remember we were all beginners once, like all sports, if you want to improve and be seen as an intermediate or expert golfer, then yes it can be difficult.
What does the quote "The course is tough but sometimes tough can bring out the best" mean?
What they're saying: " The course is tough, but sometimes tough can bring out the best. In this case, it brings out the best San Antonio has to offer." - joshsmith12
Who determines golfer's choice rankings?
Golfer's Choice rankings are determined by our community of reviewers.
How many options are there in a golf review?
We pored over more than 1 million reviews at Golf Advisor to uncover the most difficult public golf courses according to you, our reviewer community. When you write a review, one of the optional fields is "Course Difficulty." There are five choices, and we converted each option (from Extremely Easy to Extremely Difficult) into a numerical rating from 1 to 5 to determine an average difficulty score for each public golf course in the United States.
What is the hardest hole in Michigan?
What they're saying: " The view around the course is off the charts. The 5th hole par 5 may be the hardest hole in Michigan." - silguezi
Who said keep it in the fairway as the rough is deceptively hard to find your ball in?
Architect: Dick Wilson, Gil Hanse. What they're saying: "Keep it in the fairway as the rough is deceptively hard to find your ball in, and the steepness of the slopes from greens to water makes any shots over or just off the green a surprising lost ball into water or rough!". - phojes10.
Do RTJ putts break one way or the other?
What they're saying: "As is usual with a RTJ set-up, there are very few flat spots on the green and almost all putts break one way or the other or both ways." - KJH88
Can you hit the fairways without much trouble?
What they're saying: "You can hit most fairways without much trouble, but you need to put your tee shot in a spot that'll set you up with a good shot at the green." - noahjurik
What Is A Course Rating?
What Is A Slope Rating?
- While the course rating indicates the difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer, the slope rating, by contrast, indicates how difficult the course should be for a bogey golfer (or someone who averages +18 for 18 holes). Also unlike course rating, slope values can range from 55 to 155 with 113 being the average. Now, although you might be thinking...
Why Have Two numbers?
- As you may have figured out already, golf is a difficult game and contains a very wide range of golfers, each with very different levels of skill. In the mid 80’s the USGA started to catch on to this big divide between scratch or professional golfers and mid to high handicap golfers. It turns out that that statistically, no matter how easy or hard a course is, scratch golfers will almost always …
Ratings and Updates
- While the course and slope ratings of a golf course are unlikely to change dramatically, they are usually re-evaluated every 4-5 years. This is mostly due to the fact that courses change slowly over time. While small trees may have been planted when a course opened, as they continue to grow they can start to affect play on the course in different ways. Similarly, additional features s…
Wrap-Up
- Although it might not be the most pressing matter for some golfers, understanding how course and slope ratings work is sure to only help you understand the game better in the long run. At the very least, it’s something to think about while you’re comparing the different courses you’ve played throughout the year; hopefully, you’re looking back at some low scores on a really challenging co…
The Idea of Golf
Time and Practice
- There was a rule made by the famous American author and psychologist, Malcolm Gladwell. He wrote about it in his book named “Outliers: The Story of Success.” It was the ten-thousand-hour rule. The rule says that if you want to become an expert in any field of work, you need ten thousand hours in the area. The time spent in that field will need to be spent with focused practi…
How to Get Good at Golf?
- So far, we have talked about the reasons that make golf so hard. Now let’s see how you can deal with the problems to improve your skills and overcome the hard factor.
Practice & Mental Development
- It goes for anything you would want to learn that you have to practice! There is no shortcut to learning a skill properly other than practice. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”, you can only become good at golf through practice.
Our Final Thoughts
- The correct mindset and dedication will surely get you to your goal. You will finally start realizing that golf is not so hard. As for mental ability, it is something you cannot train like your body. It will come to you over time. You will eventually be able to get to a point of complete mental calmness.