Review of SSS

[Old Skier]

It does.

"A USGA Course Rating is the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions".

'Normal' relates to the specific course.

Unfortunately those that did ours stated that weather conditions would only be taken into account on links courses which we though unfair as being a course nearly as high as the highest point on Exmoor the weather can affect a round here.

 

[cliveb]

A course can still change its SSS even it hasn't been extended - there is a lot more to rating a course than length. Every factor you can think of is included

Does that include course setup?

This year the greens committee at my club has taken a conscious decision to allow the rough to grow much thicker and longer than in previous years. It's noticable that CSS's this year have generally been higher than in previous years. Should our SSS be reviewed?

 

[scubascuba3]

Unfortunately those that did ours stated that weather conditions would only be taken into account on links courses which we though unfair as being a course nearly as high as the highest point on Exmoor the weather can affect a round here.

If true that they only take account on links courses then i agree its unfair

 

[duncan mackie]

Does that include course setup?

This year the greens committee at my club has taken a conscious decision to allow the rough to grow much thicker and longer than in previous years. It's noticable that CSS's this year have generally been higher than in previous years. Should our SSS be reviewed?

Yes - more so under the USGA rating system.

However it would be unlikely to have a practical impact under the CONGU rating system (which is one of the reasons it's so flawed at times) or at the extreme under the USGA either IMO. The latter will at least give it more impact for the higher handicap golfer through the bogey index rating - the scratch golfer being expected to hit the fairway!

 

[cliveb]

The latter will at least give it more impact for the higher handicap golfer through the bogey index rating - the scratch golfer being expected to hit the fairway!

Quite so - the committee says they are doing this to tighen up the course for the tigers, but they tend not to go in the rough!
All it has achieved is to widen the gap between the low and high handicappers.

And of course it's caused a lot of wasted time as we mere mortals search for balls buried in 2 feet of grass. Then the committee has the cheek to remind us that slow play is a problem!

 

[rulefan]

the scratch golfer being expected to hit the fairway!

Not quite. Both categories have the same dimensions for the landing zone and the same distance to obstacles (problems).
The expectation of hitting the landing zone is the same. The scratch landing zones are further than the bogey zones. The difference is that bogey ratings assign higher points to the problems.

 

[rulefan]

Should our SSS be reviewed?

If you are in England and it wasn't done last or this year it will be.

 

[duncan mackie]

Not quite. Both categories have the same dimensions for the landing zone and the same distance to obstacles (problems).
The expectation of hitting the landing zone is the same. The scratch landing zones are further than the bogey zones. The difference is that bogey ratings assign higher points to the problems.

I wondered if I should give the long version...should have know better on here!

 

[HankMarvin]

No, I'm afraid that is out of date.

From Jan 2015 all courses (ie tees) in the CONGU area are now rated according to the USGA rating system.
Previously all men's national unions and ladies' associations except the English Golf Union (ie men) used that system but the EGU used its own system.

England Golf (or more accurately the County Unions and Associations) are taking on the task of rating all England courses using the USGA system. This will take some/many years. A typical rating process can take a team of 3 people between 4 and 6 hours depending on how many tees have to be rated and the complexity of the course. This does not include the resultant paperwork.
EG have indicated they will only make a contribution to expenses if the ladies' tees are rated in conjunction with the men's.
An added problem is that many clubs are asking for the red tees to be rated for the men also.

The principles of the USGA and the old EGU system are similar but vary in detail and complexity.

However the major difference is that under the USGA system courses are also rated for the 'bogey' player (20ish handicap).
This ultimately provides for the 'Slope' system, which gives a handicap adjustment to player's based on the relative difficulty of the course for all standards of players.

This gives you a taste.

http://www.usga.org/handicapping-articles/course-rating-primer-e5bf725f.html

Some counties with a few courses (10-20) are well on the way but the larger ones (with upto 200) are struggling.

Philly this is correct please keep up to speed with what's right & wrong