Golf Fundamentals Explained
By USGA rules, handicap calculation first requires calculating a “Handicap Differential” for each spherical of play the player has achieved by strict rules. That in itself is a function of the player’s “gross adjusted score” (changes might be made to mitigate numerous deviations both from strict rules or from a player’s regular capabilities, for handicap features only) and two course-specific problem scores: the Course Score, a calculated anticipated score for a hypothetical “scratch golfer”: and the Slope Rating, a number based on how much worse a hypothetical 20-handicap “bogey golfer” would score in comparison with the “scratch golfer”. The typical Slope Rating of all USGA-rated applications as of 2012 is 113, which additionally elements into the Differential computation.
The two major drawback scores inside the U.S. are the Course Rating, which is successfully the expected ranking for a zero-handicap “scratch golfer” playing the course (and can differ from the course par), and the Slope Score, which is a measure of how much worse a “bogey golfer” (with an 18 handicap) will be anticipated to play than a “scratch golfer”. These two numbers can be found for any USGA-sanctioned course, and are used in a weighted system to calculate handicaps (see below).