At 11:39 AM 8/6/2009, Eric Schoonmaker wrote:
...if you are playing a set of tees where the course rating is substantially lower than par then you will shoot your course hdcp or better probably a fair amount of the time. Conversely if you play the tips, and that course rating is say 6 strokes higher than par then you might NEVER shoot your hdcp (relative to par).
That's an interesting statement. I have to agree with it. The reason I consider it true is a bit complex:
(1) Course rating, as I noted in a previous post, is mostly based on length of the course. Slope is mostly based on other factors.
(2) Therefore... Which tees you play from affects the course rating and the length.
(3) That works... IF AND ONLY IF the course rating actually reflects the change in difficulty due to difference in length. I'm sure it does for some golfers, BUT...
...The length probably does not matter as much to a Tour quality player as the change in rating. If you look at scores in Tour events, there isn't that much difference relative to par as they change the length of the course. It is other factors that make the course difficult to these guys.
...OTOH, for a 68-year-old 14-index like me, the length adds more strokes to my score than the change in rating would suggest. For instance, I play Charleston Springs fairly frequently, where there is a 500yd difference between the white and gold tees; that equates to a 2-stroke difference in rating. I play both tees, depending on the mood of the group I'm with. For me, the difference in difficulty is more like 4-5 strokes. From the golds, I'm hitting a wood or hybrid for my second shot on almost all the par-fours; from the whites, it's always an iron with any decent drive at all.
Hope this was clear. Cheers! DaveT -- Shoptalk ** Sponsored by the new Aldila Voodoo. Learn more at http://aldilavoodoo.com/
