---
title: Course Ratings Explained - FORE Magazine
description: "One of the most common questions asked to SCGA staff is “How are golf courses rated?” There’s no short answer to that question but let’s take a look at what our Course Rating volunteers evaluate when rating a course. To get started, it is important to note that every tee is rated for the Scratch and Bogey Golfers for men and women. Raters evaluate the following six (6) Effective Playing Lengths that affect the playing length of a course: • Roll – Uphill landing zones result in a loss of roll, thereby making the course play longer and vice-versa• Elevation […]"
---

[FORE Magazine - The Official Magazine of the SCGA ](https://fore.scga.org)

# [Course Ratings Explained - FORE Magazine](https://fore.scga.org/in-the-clubhouse/course-ratings-explained)

 Written by [Doug Sullivan](https://fore.scga.org/author/doug-sullivan) | Jan 30, 2026 8:00:00 AM

One of the most common questions asked to SCGA staff is “How are golf courses rated?” There’s no short answer to that question but let’s take a look at what our Course Rating volunteers evaluate when rating a course.

To get started, it is important to note that every tee is rated for the Scratch and Bogey Golfers for men and women. Raters evaluate the following six (6) Effective Playing Lengths that affect the playing length of a course:

• **Roll **– Uphill landing zones result in a loss of roll, thereby making the course play longer and vice-versa  
• **Elevation **– Uphill holes play longer, while downhill holes play shorter  
• **Doglegs** and **Forced Lay Ups  
**• **Prevailing Wind  
**• **Altitude Above Sea Level**

<https://fore.scga.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Courserating2-1.png>

In addition to Effective Playing Lengths, the following obstacles are also evaluated:

• **Topography** is the evaluation of the impact of terrain based on difficulty of stance and club selection  
• **Fairway **is an evaluation of the difficulty of keeping the golf ball in the fairway  
• **Green Target** is an evaluation of the difficulty of hitting the green with an approach shot  
• **Recoverability and Rough** is an evaluation of the probability of missing the fairway and the green, and the difficulty of recovering when these targets are missed  
• **Bunkers** are evaluated based on how they come into play as well as their difficulty in recoverability  
• **Crossing **obstacles consist of penalty areas, extreme rough, desert and out of bounds that must be carried to play the hole  
• **Lateral** obstacles consist of penalty areas, extreme rough, desert and out of bounds when they come into play laterally  
• **Trees** are evaluated based on their overall impact on the play of the hole  
• **Green Surface** is the evaluation of the difficulty of putting on each hole  
• **Psychological** is based on punitive obstacles close to the target that create uneasiness in the mind of a player and affect scoring

These rating evaluations are based on difficulty on a scale of zero to 10. A course with seven (7) sets of tees, for example, results in 6,804 evaluations for 18 holes.

Rating is a vital core service provided by the SCGA, and Course Ratings™ and Slope Ratings® come into play every time a golfer posts a score.

So, the next time you’re on the course and you see a group of raters wearing royal blue uniform shirts and looking at clipboards, please stop by and say hello. We would be pleased to meet you and answer any questions you might have.

[View full post](https://fore.scga.org/in-the-clubhouse/course-ratings-explained)

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