Why isn’t a course’s USGA rating viewed as its “par?”

[PCCraig]

A USGA Course Rating is defined as “the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions. It is expressed as strokes taken to one decimal place and is based on yardage and other obstacles to the extent that they affect the scoring ability of a scratch golfer.”

Par is defined as “a predetermined number of strokes that a scratch (or 0 handicap) golfer should require to complete a hole or a round (the sum of the pars of the played holes)”


Sounds similar…

My question: Why isn’t a course’s Course Rating viewed as its current “par?” Why can’t par fluctuate from visit to visit or after changes are made to the course. If par has everything to do with the difficulty of a particular hole for a scratch golfer, then isn’t a course rating actually more accurate?

[Adrian_Stiff]

Pat - In the UK we have SSS, its a bit like your USGA rating. Everything has a set Standard Scratch Score based on length. I think 6600 yards is 72 6800 is 73, 6400 is 71 6200 is 70 6000 is 69 (roughly) from there you can be assessed one or two strokes more based on other difficulties like narrowness. A players handicap in the UK is based on how he performs to the standard scratch score rather than par. Further competition play has a CSS which can go up 3 (I think) or down 1 from the basic SSS, thus you can play Burnham & Berrow Par 71,SSS 73 on a tough day when the CSS is 76 , go round in level par and drop .5 of a shot if you are scratch.

[JohnV]

My question: Why isn’t a course’s Course Rating viewed as its current “par?” Why can’t par fluctuate from visit to visit or after changes are made to the course. If par has everything to do with the difficulty of a particular hole for a scratch golfer, then isn’t a course rating actually more accurate?

The following is very simplistic.

One reason is that Course Rating combines a lot of fractional numbers where as par for each hole needs to be integers.  They rarely add up to the same number.

Also, par is based strictly on a set of predefined yardages for the most part (variances can be made for holes with signficant elevation changes and the like.)  1-250 is a par 3, 251-470 is a par 4 and 471 and up is a par 5.  These are based on the distance the mythical scratch golfer hits the ball.  Obvioulsy not all par 4s are equal when evaluated under a course rating system.  Some might be 3.2s and others 4.5.  Add them all up and you get a Course Rating.  But, count them all as 4 and you'll get a different number.

[Rob Bice]

rating = on average

par = each time

[Jim Sweeney]

In olden times courses were assigned a "bogey rating," the score a good player was expecteds to be able to shoot. It might have been 3,4,5 or more strokes above par. In that regard, I suppose you could call the course rating a modern equivolent of the old bogey rating.

Question for Adrian: I'm know there have been other threads debating the US and UK handicap systems. Out of purely academic interest, Is the CSS assigned before a round, or after it? Is it static, or does weather, or any other external factor, affect the CSS? If so, what happens if, for example, a round is suspended overnight due to foul weather, and the next day breaks sunny, warm and calm?

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Question for Adrian: I'm know there have been other threads debating the US and UK handicap systems. Out of purely academic interest, Is the CSS assigned before a round, or after it? Is it static, or does weather, or any other external factor, affect the CSS? If so, what happens if, for example, a round is suspended overnight due to foul weather, and the next day breaks sunny, warm and calm?

Jim,

It's a number of years since I did the CSS calculations at my club, so forgive me if anything here isn't 100% correct.

The CSS can only be calculated after all cards have been returned, as the calculation is based on the scores for the day. If the scoring is poor, then the CSS will be high (3 above SSS) or even "Non Counting". Non counting means that players will not get any increase in their handicaps that day. If the scoring is good, the CSS might be equal to the SSS or even go one below the SSS. The CSS is calculated for each day of competition.

I'm not sure how it works for suspended play.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Question for Adrian: I'm know there have been other threads debating the US and UK handicap systems. Out of purely academic interest, Is the CSS assigned before a round, or after it? Is it static, or does weather, or any other external factor, affect the CSS? If so, what happens if, for example, a round is suspended overnight due to foul weather, and the next day breaks sunny, warm and calm?

Jim,

It's a number of years since I did the CSS calculations at my club, so forgive me if anything here isn't 100% correct.

The CSS can only be calculated after all cards have been returned, as the calculation is based on the scores for the day. If the scoring is poor, then the CSS will be high (3 above SSS) or even "Non Counting". Non counting means that players will not get any increase in their handicaps that day. If the scoring is good, the CSS might be equal to the SSS or even go one below the SSS. The CSS is calculated for each day of competition.

I'm not sure how it works for suspended play.

Doneal, I think if play is suspended its still a tally of the competition scores. Non counting can still reduce if you beat CSS as well, I think its called reduction only.