I had no idea that the USGA keeps tinkering with the formula for the Slope System. Who's in charge of that?
The USGA. They publish a new manual every 2-4 years. The current manual is only for two years, IIRC, because of the impending World Handicap System (I'm only capitalizing it to give it significance. I'm not trying to imply that it's a formal, assigned name.)
On my first few courses, I would go out with the state golf association team when they were there to rate the course. Once I understood it pretty well, I lost interest in it, because there are so many things I try to get into my designs that are not a factor in calculating the rating and slope.
Right. I mean, the system isn't perfect, but IMO it's pretty good at, relatively simply (two numbers), taking the complex and varied nature of golf courses and golfers games and providing a platform that allows them to compete.
By far the silliest of these is the idea that the "scratch player" drives it 250 yards and hits his second shot 220 yards every time, and that the "bogey player" drives it 200 and hits his second shot 170. Scratch golfers have been way past those numbers for twenty years, but they haven't changed the distances. And as for bogey golfers, I still remember what Mr. Dye said when I tried to explain it to him:
They're actually not too far beyond 250 yards.
Of course there's some simplification taking place. They have to simplify or else the course rating process would be incredibly dense and difficult. I think they've struck a pretty good balance of simplicity while taking into account the various features and games of players of many ability levels.
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Jeff, I think your question about what we could lose has been answered several times. There are several things we lose. I think the biggest thing is that since golf is a game not played against opponents per se (i.e. there's no defense, nobody's hitting a ball back at you, or blocking your route to the goal, etc.), we risk losing the connection we have to players of all ability levels. Right now, golfers can relate to players of all ability levels. They can marvel at Dustin Johnson's drive, and simultaneously give themselves credit when they pull something off that they saw on TV. We're all playing the same game under the same rules. That's kinda magical, and a big draw for a lot of people.
I think perhaps the next biggest thing is that we actually create a hurdle for people on the bubble. Where do you draw this line? Players who are near that bubble will play with the "tournament ball" in case they're ever required to use it. It'll create confusion and players will be at a disadvantage much of the time: if they play with the tournament ball exclusively they're disadvantaged when they play against others who aren't using it, and if they play mostly with the "regular" ball, they'll be at a disadvantage when they play in U.S. Open qualifying, U.S. Mid-Am qualifying, etc.
Basically, I don't see the point in making a rule for 0.001% of golfers. The
vast majority of golfers are fine playing from 6500 yards or less.