Thursday, May 03, 2001
GCGA ratings a resource for scratch golfers
Stats allow course comparisons
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tay Baker had just returned from rating Aston Oaks Golf Club in North Bend. In June or July, it will become the Tristate's newest 18-hole course.
“We spent about an hour rating just one hole,” said Baker, Greater Cincinnati Golf Association executive director. “It's a beautiful hole with crossing water, but a bogey lady player with a high handicap is going to have a tough time getting it into an area where she can play a shot. On the other hand, it's great for a scratch player, with a lot of risk-reward.
“Those are the sort of things you factor in when you're rating a golf course.
“We don't rate courses the way Golf magazine would do it, saying these are the best 10 or best 50 or best 100 courses somewhere,” said Baker, a former basketball coach at Xavier and the University of Cincinnati.
“Our rating tells the scratch golfer how the course plays in relation to his (handicap), and we also have something called "slope' that tells the bogey golfer — a man with an 18-24 handicap, a woman with a 25-30 handicap — how the course plays for them.”
Many weekend hacks pay no attention to those numbers. But if you were playing a match at an unfamiliar course, you could compare the course's slope to that of your regular course to help determine how many strokes you should give or get from opponents.
“Factors such as topography and elevation changes, the type of stance you have — flat or awkward — are among the things we consider when rating a course,” Baker said. “Also, the width of the fairways — narrow, or wide and forgiving. We also look at what type of shot you have into the green: generally, the longer the yardage, the harder the shot.”
How long does it take to rate a course?
“About the same amount of time it takes to play it,” said Baker, who estimates he has done 200 to 300 ratings. “We have two or three sets of electronic devices that allow us to check distances very quickly. It's the discussion that takes the time.”
Length has a lot to do with rating and slope.
A 6,000-yard golf course usually gets a rating of about 67-68. One that is 6,400 yards might be a 70, and one that is 6,500 to 7,000 usually gets a rating in the low 70s.
Lord's Valley is a new par-71 18-hole course in Owensville, Ohio. It measures 6,803 yards from the back tees, and there are considerable elevation changes. All that helps explain its relatively difficult 72.7 rating and 133 slope.
A good comparison for it is Blue Ash. No walk in the park, it has a 135 slope and 72.7 rating.
The average slope for a Cincinnati-area course probably is a little more than 125, Baker said. The average nationally is about 118. Those are back-tee figures. (From the middle tees, Lord's Valley is 70.7/130; from the forward tees, 70.9/119.)
“We have 99 courses (in Greater Cincinnati), and most of them are par 70-72 with some par 5s and some tough par 4s,” Baker said. “We don't have a lot of short courses that bring the average down.”
The highest slope in Greater Cincinnati is at the new Tournament Players Club at River's Bend, which opens later this month and will host the Kroger Senior Classic in 2002. From the back tees, its slope is 142; from the member tees, 140.
Baker said the GCGA rates a course every three years.
What does Baker think of Lord's Valley?
“It's a fun course,” he said. “I think players will keep going back to it because there's a lot going on (with the topography and elevation changes). It can be set up especially tough if they (course officials) want. It's not an easy golf course.”
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GCGA ratings a resource for scratch golfers
