Click here to produce a WHS Daily Handicap Look-up Chart for any set of tees in Australia.

Click here to search Australian course ratings. (NB Ratings found within individual club detail pages)

What is the difference between a Scratch and Slope Rating?

The Slope Rating is a measure of how much the difficulty of a course increases for the handicap golfer. The Slope Rating determines how many handicap strokes you get from a specific set of tees. The Scratch Rating is what your score is compared against when it’s processed for handicapping.

How is a Scratch Rating Determined?

State Association course rating experts have traversed each course in Australia assessing numerous features that determine the difficulty of each set of tees.

The features taken in to consideration are:

• Measured meterage (has the course been measured correctly)

• Effects on playing length (roll, elevation, layups, doglegs, wind etc)

• Obstacle factors (fairways, greens, rough, bunkers, OB, water hazards, trees etc)

The data collected when taking all of the above in to consideration for each set of tees is then applied to a Course Rating program that calculates a final Scratch Rating and Bogey Rating figure. These figures are subsequently utilised to arrive at a Slope Rating figure for each set of tees.

(Notes: A Scratch Rating is the evaluation of the normal playing difficulty of a set of tees for a player with a handicap of zero. A Bogey Rating is the evaluation of the normal playing difficulty of a set of tees for a player with a women’s handicap of approximately 24 or a men’s handicap of approximately 20)

How is a Slope Rating determined?

The Slope Rating is the measure of the difference between the Bogey Rating and the Scratch Rating. In effect, the Slope Rating is measuring the rate at which gross scores deteriorate from a set of tees as the ability of the players decreases.

Is the Slope Rating of a set of tees the true measure of its difficulty?

Slope is an equalising factor for the handicap golfer. A far more accurate measure of the difficulty of a set of tees is its Scratch Rating.

Click here for more information about the differences between a Slope Rating and a Scratch Rating.

Assistance is available to courses that are experiencing Excessive or Reduced Roll. Contact your State Association for more details.

Note: The below documents are available as a free download from this website. Any other website is welcome to feature a link to this webpage. The documents themselves may not be made available for download from any website other than golf.org.au.