What do you look at when rating a course?
When rating a golf course, a team of 10-12 trained Course Rating™ Volunteers, and the AZ GOLF Course Rating™ Director, Mike Mason, assess the course.
The key factors that are considered include:
1. Yardage and Effective Playing Length (EPL) Adjustments:
- Tee to green yardage
- Roll
- Elevation changes
- Doglegs and forced lay-ups
- Wind
- Altitude
2. 10 Additional Obstacle Rating Factors (assessed separately for males and females on each tee):
- Topography
- Fairway width and condition
- Green target size and difficulty
- Recoverability and rough
- Bunkers
- Crossing hazards (e.g., streams, canal, wash)
- Lateral hazards (e.g., ponds, lakes, desert)
- Trees
- Green surface (size, contour, speed)
- Psychological impact
Each factor is rated on a scale from 0 (does not exist) to 10 (extreme significance). The gathered data is entered into an app that uses complex formulas to calculate the Course Rating™ and Slope Rating™. Once the numbers are approved, the course coordinates with GHIN to go "live" with the updated ratings.