The Slope System

photo credit: nsaplayer   Each course is rated on it’s difficulty by a team of four State experts who follow the USGA rating guide.  They assess how difficult a course is for scratch players and this is called the Course Rating.  These same experts, at the same time, rate the same course for it’s difficulty for the average golfer (bogey golfer).  The difference between the Bogey Rating and the Course Rating is the Slope Rating.

The purpose of the Slope System is to even out the playing field between scratch golfers and average golfers.   A Handicap is calculated over a total of 20 rounds of golf.  During the calculation period bad lies and inclement weather tend to average out to give an accurate total handicap rating.