Reply To: The Dope Of Slope System Doesnt Work

[Rick Kimbrell]

One of the courses I play at regularly has a course/slope rating that is a handicap killer. Several years ago, they had 4sets of tees (back/middle/senior/forward). Most played from the Middle tees and the slope rating was 125. Then they decided to add some new tee boxes and extend the course length and in doing so added what I guess you could call a “Tournament” set of tees. The tees were Black/Blue/White/Gold/Red. They stretched out every set of tees except the forward (Red) tees. Then they rerated the course. So, what used to be the Middle or White tees received a new rating of 130. That was somewhat reasonable since the Middle/White tees were now playing to a much longer distance.
This would have been all well and good except the guys who played there on a regular basis started complaining about how difficult the course had become and they could not carry some of the hazards, etc. etc. Plus the course gets a ton of play from non-regulars and holds a bunch of tournaments. So, they moved the white tees back up to about where they used to be with the 125 slope rating. So, now, you have a good round on that course, your differential when you score is posted is much lower. It is a handicap killer. 5 points on the slope rating can make a huge difference in your score differential.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Rick Kimbrell.