Ratings

3. RATINGS

Obstacles must be evaluated separately for both the scratch and the bogey player on the basis of them coming into play. • For Roll and each of the 10 obstacle factors, begin by entering the rating table for the scratch player, then re-enter the table for the bogey player. • Adjust the rating table values up or down for both the scratch and bogey players as prescribed in the adjustments section. • Consider further adjustments for par-3 and par-5 holes, if appropriate. • When a bogey player cannot reach a par-4 hole in two shots, rate the hole as a par-5 (three-shot) hole for the bogey player. • When a bogey player cannot reach a par-3 hole in one shot, rate the hole as a par-4 (two-shot) hole, except there is no Fairway rating value. Use the par-3 obstacle weighting. Rating values have been provided in the rating tables in Section 11 and Section 12; however, any number from 0 to 10 may be used. A “tweener” value, as defined in Section 3 may be used if appropriate. Each adjustment has been accompanied by an alphabetical or numerical identifier. These identifiers should be useful to raters in scanning the page of the “Course Rating System Guide” to assure all adjustments are considered, in discussing how they arrived at their final obstacle ratings (e.g. “table value plus adjustments L and M”), and they may even be recorded on the rating form for the record. A table listing all the adjustment “alpha-numeric codes” is found in Section 8-6. Some adjustments are accompanied by an asterisk, indicating that they apply to a specific shot and not to the overall rating of the hole. Shot-specific adjustments are listed ahead of generalized adjustments. Adjustments are to be applied in the order they are listed. Under Recoverability & Rough and Bunkers only, shot specific adjustments are cumulative (e.g. two lay-ups on a hole would result in two –1 adjustments, or a total adjustment of –2 for R&R). • A rating of zero should be assigned when the obstacle “does not exist” on the hole (i.e. when it is more than 50 yards left and right of the line of play and more than 50 yards left, right, and beyond the centre of the green.) • Obstacle ratings of 3, 4, and 5 would be expected about half of the time on an average golf course. • A rating of 10 would normally be expected on less than one percent of the holes. Even the easiest golf course has some obstacle values. In fact, some obstacles cannot be rated zero. They are: • Fairway and Recoverability & Rough (minimum 1); • Green Target (minimum 2); and • Green Surface (minimum 3).