Wisconsin State Golf Association
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WSGA ... Wisconsin's Largest Golf Community.

With 55,000 members and an array of benefits and services, the WSGA provides the best opportunity to enhance your experience, while continuing to preserve and promote the game of golf.

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Course Rating And Measuring

Course rating is one of the key services of the WSGA. Uniform course ratings are required to assure that the WSGA/USGA Handicap Indexes at your club and throughout the state are accurate. Course rating services are provided by the WSGA course rating committee under the direction of regional captains, following the procedures of the USGA Course Rating SystemTM. The WSGA re-rates mature golf courses at least once every 10 years, otherwise course ratings are reviewed and adjusted whenever physical changes or alterations require this service. The WSGA is the only association authorized by the USGA to provide course ratings in the State of Wisconsin.

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The assessment of golf course difficulty is a critical component of the USGA Handicap System. The technique utilized to evaluate difficulty, i.e. course rating, has evolved throughout the years. At one time course rating was a par-based system. In subsequent years, par was dropped in favor of course yardage as the standard measure. Eventually the notion of obstacle difficulty was incorporated with yardage to determine course rating.

It is noteworthy that until recently course rating analysis only reflected the influence of course difficulty on the expert golfer. The advent of the USGA Course and Slope Rating System changed this by including the average or bogey golfer in the evaluation. The intent of studying the effects of the course difficulty on both the scratch and bogey golfer in course ratings is to allow for portability of handicaps.

A common misconception is to equate the strength of course difficulty to the USGA Slope Rating. As a result, the USGA Course Rating is frequently ignored in the discussion. One merely needs to observe two courses, both with USGA Slope Ratings of 125, to see the error in such a simplistic comparison. Course A measures 6455 yards and has a USGA Course Rating of 71.2. Course B measures 5689 yards and has a USGA Course Rating of 68.5. Course A, therefore, is the more difficult of the two courses based on the combination of yardage and obstacle influence resulting in a higher Course Rating. Course B is undoubtedly a challenging layout that proves difficult, particularly for the bogey golfer, but its lack of length prevents the USGA Course Rating from becoming a larger number.

Because yardage is the predominate factor in determining course ratings, accurate measurement of the golf courses is essential. The WSGA utilizes its own Electronic Measuring Devices (EDM) and Global Positioning System (GPS) in the measurement of golf courses and employs the methods of measurement established in the USGA Course Rating SystemTM. In addition to measuring the length of the golf course, the WSGA offers measuring services relative to distance markings, i.e., sprinkler heads and/or other landmarks. Permanent WSGA tee yardage markers are available at cost.