It seems to me that, if a course is rated properly, there should be very few PCC adjustments. Adjustments should only occur when external conditions cause scores to be unusually high or low. And, i would expect that there should be more +1 than -1 adjustments, as bad weather should be the most common variable that would affect scoring. The variables that would make a course unusually easy would likely involve maintenance variables - low rough, slow greens. etc.
So, the fact that there seem to be more -1 than +1 adjustments tells me courses tend to be rated too high. That is certainly true for my course.
Jim,
Out of curiosity, why do you think your course is rated too high?
As to PCC’s, I’ve written this many times, but BY FAR the preponderance of PCC’s that I’ve seen in my posted scores are +1, 2, or even 3, and almost all of them have come in tournament rounds, regardless of the weather. For instance, I don’t think I’ve ever played a competitive round at either Mid Pines or Pine Needles (usually 2 rounds on each course each year) that didn’t have a + PCC, and often it’s a +3. One of the guys in the CGA office told me that those two courses and Tobacco Road have the most PCC adjustments of any courses in the Carolinas.
I have no trouble understanding why tournament rounds get the most + PCC’s; lots of golfers playing an unfamiliar course at the same time, many without the benefit of a practice round, and some without ever having played the course at all. Going back two full years, with well over 50 tournament rounds, I have yet to see a minus PCC in a tournament round.
This year, I have seen more minus PCC’s in casual play. Last year I had ONE minus PCC all year out of 157 posted rounds; this year I’ve already had 6 minus PCC’s out of 115 posted rounds YTD. All but one were on my home course. The + PCC’s are happening at just about the same pace as in prior years.
I play year round, including in the cold and in the rain, and I don’t think weather has very much impact on this at all; otherwise, I’d see plus PCC’s clustered in the winter, and that’s not the case. The course conditions aspect is a little bit murkier to me; I’d have to study my scores a lot more closely than I’m inclined to to make a semi-educated guess at that.