Golf clubs should use ‘real data’ to set hole indexes and slope ratings

It makes a lot of sense to adjust hole indexes and golf course slope ratings based on ‘real world’ data.

Somehow this post got pushed to the back of the queue but I wanted to make sure this was shared here for all the Aussie golfer readers who may have missed it.

Back in the July issue of Inside Golf, Editor Richard Fellner wrote an interesting piece about the failings in golf course indexes and slope ratings.

These two elements of the Australia’s golf handicapping system are one of the most talked/argued about topics in club golf and Fellner suggested that clubs should be using ‘real data’ to adjust both hole indexes and golf course slope ratings.

Indexing is slowly shifting to a more statistics-based model, where data is gathered over a certain period of time, and the holes are rated according to how players ACTUALLY score on them.

For clubs that have advanced/electronic scorekeeping, the analysis of past round data can reveal, for example, the difference a hole plays from red/white/blue/black tees, in summer vs winter, with/against prevailing winds, etc. This is more accurate (and potentially more fair to all players) than traditional methods.

And…

Speaking of the ‘powers that be’…why not expand this process to adjust Slope?

I play many courses across Australia on a regular basis. And one thing I’ve noticed over the last couple of years is that the Slope ratings for many of these courses seem to be out of whack. The problem, I believe, is that the calculations for determining Slope aren’t necessarily relevant to all courses in Australia (our links-style courses play far differently to the pin-seeking dartboards in the U.S.). They also don’t generally take real-world statistics into account.

Read the full article here: It’s time to get ‘real’ about Slope and indexing, and don’t forget you can go and read the latest issue of Inside Golf at any time through the website if you don’t see it at your golf club.