Podcasts
Are course ratings biased toward private clubs?
Russell Kirk
Some things in golf puzzle even the most avid, seasoned golfers. How course ratings and slopes—aka the difficulty of a course—are calculated would be up there. We’re not talking about the course rankings, such as Augusta National being the second-highest course in the country. Instead, the course rating—which helps us figure out what our expected scores should be against our handicap—isn’t exactly straightforward for higher-handicap players, and causes some confusion for a lot of us.
The second part of the puzzle came up as a discussion point on this week’s episode of The Loop podcast. As my co-host Alex Myers lamented why his round of 80 at Turning Stone Resort’s Atunyote course wasn’t given more credit toward his handicap, even though the Atunyote course is certainly a difficult venue having hosted the PGA Tour not too long ago. Myers remarked that it seems like higher-end, private clubs that he more regularly plays (humble brag) tend to make his handicap go lower than it should.
If you want to hear more about Myers’ humble brags—and some discussion about course ratings and whether or not they trave—have a listen below to this week’s episode of The Loop (where we also give our betting picks for the Olympics). And please subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen to them (we’re on Apple, Spotify, etc.)!
