Club glossary
What Is a Course Rating™ in Golf?
The USGA's measure of how difficult a set of tees plays for a scratch golfer under normal course and weather conditions, stated in strokes to one decimal place.
A Course Rating™ is the USGA's measure of how difficult a set of tees plays for a scratch golfer — a player with a Handicap Index® of 0.0 — under normal course and weather conditions. It is expressed in strokes to one decimal place: a Course Rating™ of 71.2 means a scratch player can expect to score around 71 on a good day from those tees.
How it is set
Course Rating™ values are issued by the authorized golf association for the course's region — in the United States, the state or regional golf association — under the USGA's course rating system. A trained rating team visits the course and evaluates two things from each set of tees:
- Effective playing length — measured yardage adjusted for roll, elevation changes, doglegs, forced lay-ups and altitude.
- Obstacles — factors such as fairway width, green size and firmness, bunkers, penalty areas, trees, rough and recoverability, and how each affects a scratch player and a bogey player.
The same visit produces a Bogey Rating™, the expected score for a bogey golfer. The gap between the Bogey Rating™ and the Course Rating™ is what sets the Slope Rating®. Each set of tees carries its own ratings, with separate ratings for men and women where both play from those tees. Courses are re-rated periodically and after significant changes to the layout.
Example
A club's tees might be rated like this:
| Tees | Yardage | Course Rating™ | Slope Rating® | Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 7,050 | 74.1 | 137 | 72 |
| Blue | 6,620 | 72.3 | 132 | 72 |
| White | 6,180 | 70.4 | 126 | 72 |
From the black tees, a scratch player is expected to shoot about two strokes over par; from the white tees, about one and a half under.
How it is used in handicapping
The Course Rating™ appears twice in handicap math. It is subtracted from each adjusted score to calculate a Score Differential, which feeds the Handicap Index®. And it adjusts the Course Handicap™: a player receives extra strokes from tees rated above par and fewer from tees rated below it. The USGA summarizes both ratings on its Course Rating™ and Slope Rating® page.
Why it matters at a private club
If the ratings stored in the club's systems do not match the ratings issued by the golf association, every Course Handicap and every posted score is off. Clubs should update ratings whenever the course is re-rated or tees are added.
Related terms
In Bubs: each tee carries its Course Rating™, Slope Rating® and par, used for every Course Handicap and every score posted to the USGA. See handicaps.