Dear Linda,
My home club is in Asia. On Wednesdays, which is Ladies’ Tournament Day, the Ladies’ Committee instructs the maintenance staff to move the Red tees behind the Black tees. The yardage from the Red tees is 5,674 yards; from the Black tees it is 6,560 yards. Is this allowed?
During the rest of the week, the Red Tees are in front of the Black Tees!!!! Will this not affect Yardage and Slope Rating?? Isn't this unfair for the mid- and high-handicappers, especially when there is a water hazard in front of one tee which is difficult to carry for the high handicappers? Can one move a Red tee behind a Black tee, which helps only about 4 percent of Lady Golfers?
The Red tee markers are put back to their original position the next morning.
By the way, love the personal nature of your replies, which are clear and precise.
Regards,
Lulu
Dear Lulu,
Before I address your questions, I need to explain to my readers that there are two official authorities on the rules of golf. The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the ruling authority for the U.S. and Mexico; The R&A (Royal & Ancient) is the authority for the rest of the world. The two groups cooperate in producing and revising both The Rules of Golf and Decisions on the Rules of Golf.
While the golf rules are the same for everyone, courses are not rated in the same way in the rest of the world as they are in the United States and Mexico. I don’t want to get too complicated here, so suffice it to say that the U.S. uses a combination of a Course Rating® that indicates what a scratch golfer is expected to score (e.g., 71.2) and a Slope Rating® that measures how difficult a course will be for a bogey golfer compared to a scratch golfer (the ratings range from 55 to 155). The rest of the world uses a system based on a single rating for a scratch golfer.
Lulu, I can speak with regard to some of your points, but not all. Moving the Red tees behind the Black tees on your Ladies’ Day, which sets the distance at over 6,560 yards, is making your course exceptionally and unusually long for women golfers. For comparison, the USGA set the yardage for the women playing in the USGA Amateur Public Links Championship this year at 6,158 yards.
The Committee is entitled to establish the yardage for the competition. Personally,
I find it difficult to imagine the ladies at your club having a pleasant experience playing a course that is over 6,560 yards long. I would suggest that you meet with the Committee and perhaps the club pro and discuss what yardage would be most appropriate for your group. I agree with you that it is an unfair length for the mid- and high-handicappers.
The question that I cannot answer for you is how the longer yardage will affect your Slope Rating. Since you are playing in Asia, you will have to contact the R&A to get the correct information. Your pro might be able to help you with this question.
I could answer your rating question if you were playing in the United States, since there is a chart available to adjust the Course and Slope Ratings when you are playing from an unrated set of tees. Let’s pretend your golf course is located in the U.S., the only set of tees rated for women is the Red tees, and you are a woman playing from the Black tees. Here is how you would adjust the ratings:
1. Find the difference in yardage between the Red tees and the Black tees. At your course, the difference would be 886 yards.
2. Look at the chart entitled “Women’s Ratings Adjustments from Unrated Tees” (The USGA Handicap System, Section 5-2/g).
3. Find the line that includes 886 in its range (873-890).
4. The chart will tell you to add 4.9 to the Course Rating and 10 to the Slope Rating.
5. If the rating from the Red tees for women (and here I’m just making up the numbers, since your course is not located in the U.S.) were 70.6/121, the rating for women playing from the Black tees would be 75.5/131. (Such a high rating, incidentally, would indicate an extremely difficult course for women.)
Here is the link to find the charts to adjust the ratings for both men and women when you play from a set of tees that has not been rated for your gender:
http://www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/manual/manual.html
Lulu, I hope you will be able to find out from your club pro or The R&A how to adjust the rating when you play from the Black tees. This information will serve you well when you play other courses from a set of tees that has not been rated for women. I also hope that you will have a meaningful and productive discussion with the Committee, and that together you will establish a reasonable length for the tournaments held at your club on Wednesdays for the ladies.
Linda
Copyright © 2008 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
