What Is Course Rating?

You have met Course Rating already if you read about score differentials or Slope Rating. It is the first number on the tee rating, before the slope. Together they describe how hard a set of tees is.

On a scorecard you might see 72.1 / 129 for the white tees. The 72.1 is the Course Rating. The 129 is the slope.

Course Rating is the score a scratch golfer is expected to shoot from those tees. On a par-72 course rated 74.2, scratch players typically shoot about two over par.

It is set by trained raters who walk the course and account for length, hazards, green difficulty, and typical conditions. It is not something you calculate yourself.

Par is the number printed on the card for each hole. Course Rating reflects how scratch golfers actually score on that layout.

That is why an 85 on a course rated 70 feels very different from an 85 on a course rated 75. Your score differential picks up that difference automatically.

Yellow tees, white tees, and back tees each have their own Course Rating and Slope Rating. Moving up or down a tee changes both numbers, and therefore changes your Course Handicap.

Always check the rating for the tees you actually played. Using the wrong tee rating will produce the wrong Course Handicap.

Course Rating appears in two places you will care about: when your app works out a score differential after a round, and when you convert your Handicap Index into a Course Handicap before you play.

If CR is above par, you get extra shots. Below par, fewer. In the score differential formula, a higher CR makes it harder to produce a low Diff from the same gross score.

Your Course Handicap is the starting point for competition day. From there, the format you are playing may reduce it to a Playing Handicap. That is the number that decides how many shots you actually receive.