Course Rating, Bogey Rating & Slope Rating Section I Course Rating represents the playing difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer under normal weather and course conditions. Bogey Rating represents the playing difficulty of a course for a specifically defined non-scratch golfer under normal weather and course conditions. Slope Rating is the difference between the Bogey Rating and the Course Rating multiplied by a mathmatical constant. Therefore, Slope Rating represents the relative playing difficulty of a course for a non-scratch golfer compared to a scratch golfer. The higher the Slope Rating the greater the gap in expected scores between the scratch golfer and the bogey golfer. A course of standard playing difficulty has a Slope Rating of 113. Slope Ratings range from a minimum of 55 to a maximum of 155.
Rating teams from the state/regional golf associations rate the courses in their area. They evaluate every hole from the perspective of the bogey and scratch golfer and how certain obstacles (such as hazards, bunkers, trees, width of fairways, green surface, etc.) affect the playing ability of the bogey and scratch golfers.
