Elevation

3. ELEVATION GENERAL

Uphill holes play longer than level holes; downhill holes play shorter. A correction is required when the elevations of the teeing area and the green differ by 10 feet or more. Valleys or hills between tee and green should not be considered under the Elevation category; they may, however, affect roll, stance, or lie and should be evaluated under Roll and/or Topography. Tee-to-Green elevation differences in feet for each hole may be provided by the club. Topographical charts or online tools may also be used to provide this information. Altimeters are also a good tool for a rating team that frequently rates courses with significant elevation changes. Alternatively, if the rating team must estimate the overall elevation change from tee to green, the procedure for estimating elevation differences is as follows: • On a downhill hole, estimate the height of trees near the green and compare the trees with the height of the tee; or • On an uphill hole, reverse the process To estimate tree height, envision people or flagsticks stacked one on another from the ground to the top of the tree. Heights can also be estimated from nearby buildings (one story of a building is normally about 10 feet).

ELEVATION RATINGS

Elevation is the same for scratch and bogey from the same tee and only needs to be recorded once. Elevation changes of 10 feet or more from tee to green must be recorded for rating purposes. Record the actual or estimated elevation difference in feet (rounded to the nearest 10 feet) from tee to green in the Elevation section of the rating form. Enter a plus value if the hole is uphill and a minus value if it is downhill.

Examples: • If the hole is 25 feet uphill from tee to green, record +30 (adding effective playing length). • If the hole is approximately 15 feet downhill from tee to green, record –20 (subtracting effective playing length). • If the hole is 8 feet uphill from tee to green, record a zero (elevation change must be at least 10 feet to qualify).

PAR-3 HOLES

The maximum elevation value that may be assigned on a par-3 hole is +/- 40 feet, regardless of whether the bogey player can reach the green in one shot.