Slope Rating™:
Slope Rating is the number which indicates the relative playing difficulty of a course for Bogey Golfers, compared to Scratch Golfers. It is the difficulty comparison between a Bogey Golfer and a Scratch Golfer from the same set of tees.
(In simple terms it is the combination of the Course Rating™ and the Bogey Rating™, which allows us to calculate the Slope Rating of a set of tees) The use of Slope allows a player’s Handicap Index® to be portable from course to course and country to country. It also enables acceptable scores from any rated golf course in the world to be submitted for a player’s handicap purposes. The Slope Rating is a key component in calculating the number of strokes each player receives to play a particular golf course. Each set of tees will have a Slope Rating value between 55 and 155.
The higher the Slope Rating, the more additional strokes a Bogey Golfer will need to be able to play it. The lower the Slope Rating, the less strokes a Bogey Golfer will require
Course Ratings:
Golf Course Rating will be used to measure the playing difficulty of a golf course. It measures how many strokes a Scratch Golfer (a player who can play to a Course Handicap of zero on all rated golf courses) should take on any given course.
The rating does this by assessing two main types of challenges which, when combined, result in a common base from which to compare players’ abilities:
Bogey Ratings:
A Bogey Rating is the measure of playing difficulty from a set of tees when played by a Bogey Golfer (a player who has a Course Handicap™ of approximately 20 for a male and 24 for a female). Knowing the Course Rating and Bogey Rating allows the WHS™ to assess and rationalise the relationship between the two. From this, the difficulty of the course for all other levels of ability can be deduced.
Further information can be found from the WHS Toolkit at THIS LINK.