Essentially most golfers seem to think, and have for a long time, that a course's "Slope Rating" is the difficutly of the course for a good player (scratch player). It isn't.
The rating of a golf course for the scratch player is the "Course Rating" and that is almost always on course scorecards. (So basically probably way more than fifty percent of golfers think the "Slope Rating" is the same thing as a course's "Course Rating". Again, it isn't!
The "Slope Rating" is a number calculated from a mathematical formula basically derived from the difference between a course's "Bogey Rating" and the course's "Couse Rating."
(Note: a "scratch" player is a golfer with a 0 handicap. A "Bogey" player for the purposes of these USGA Handicap System and course rating calculations is a figurative golfer with a handicap between app 17.6-22.1. A "Bogey" player is also assumed for course rating purposes to hit various shots or clubs certain fixed maximum distances).
Tom Huckaby's point is obviously that if a "Bogey Rating" is made more available to golfers they will begin to understand better what a "Slope Rating" REALLY is and isn't.
If courses would put on their scorecards the "Bogey Rating" along with the "Course" and "Slope" ratings which most all scorecards already have it would probably make things a lot clearer to a whole lot more people.
However, I fear that one of the primary reasons "Bogey Ratings" have never been put on scorecards is there really isn't much room left on most scorecards for it.
