R&R. Par three adjustment. K. W. D2. B. Minus B.
Those were just a few of the letters, codes, and jargon I heard on my visit with the New Jersey State Golf Association's course rating team to Francis Byrne Golf Course, a public golf course owned by Essex County in West Orange, New Jersey.
I met the volunteers of the course rating team - clad in their powder blue NJSGA polos and red caps - at the clubhouse at 8:00am.
The team of 12 started their task of rating the course by having a brief meeting with the Director of Golf Operations who discusses the anticipated green speeds and rough lengths for regular daily play.
After that short discussion, two of the more experienced and expert raters, known as Captains, split the team in to two smaller groups of six. One group was assigned to evaluate the front nine, the other the back nine.
Our group headed to the first tee with our hole rating worksheets, range finders, USGA Course Rating Manuals, sunscreen and water bottles (the New Jersey summer sun is hot and strong!) in tow.
Stepping on the first tee, a Road Hole template design with a bunker on the right of the fairway rather than a hotel, it was clear why we were rating the golf course. The first hole at Francis Byrne Golf Course is completely redesigned from last year's version. So is the second hole. And the third. And nearly every other hole on the golf course.
The USGA requires that golf courses are re-rated at least once every ten years. This accounts for updates or revisions of course rating methods. Our visit to re-rate the course was for a different reason: the golf course because the golf course underwent significant updates and revisions.
Francis Byrne underwent a nearly year-long $6.8 million renovation (restoration? rehabilitation?) to return to its original design principles of the course's architect Charles Banks. New Jersey-based golf architect Stephen Kay along with the county's Director of Golf Operations added tees, introduced new bunkers, redesigned and recontoured greens, and remolded and added holes fit Banks' classic design templates and style.
This work is immediately evident as we stepped on the first tee... and the next two: a biarritz template followed by a punchbowl green. A double plateau green at the eighth hole, a thumbprint green at the ninth, an Eden at the 14th, and a reverse redan at the 17th are other highlights. The golf course is visually spectacular and fun to play; it will certainly become a public golfing gem of not just Essex County, but the entire state of New Jersey.
Course rating is the pillar of World Handicap System. Without course ratings, there would be no score posting, no handicap index calculation. And without accurate course ratings, these handicap indexes would be inconsistent and unreliable. But with course ratings, golfers from different clubs, different states, even different countries can compete equitably in net competitions with their World Handicap System Index.
With the redesigned course at Francis Byrne, it is essential that the course be re-rated to maintain the integrity of the course rating and handicapping system, not just for golfers who play Byrne, but for golfers nationally and internationally.
The teams who perform course rating tasks are volunteers of Allied Golf Associations. You probably know yours as your state or regional golf association. The members of course rating teams engage in online and in-person training, apprenticeship and mentorship, and guidance from experienced course raters called Captains. The training focuses on the methods and intricacies of the Course Rating System.
Back on the first tee, the course rating process commences.
While the majority of a course's difficulty is dependent on its length, golf courses have obstacles and hazards on the way to the green. The greens also can contain lots of slopes and undulations. Course raters consider and scrutinize these factors.
The rating and evaluation of each hole begins just as you would play a hole: standing on the tee and observing at the hole. If there are any trees that may stand in the way or block part of the fairway from the tee, that severity is noted on the hole's rating worksheet.
Once in the fairway, the raters go to two separate landing zones. The first landing zone is 200 yards from the tee to evaluate the hole from a bogey golfer's perspective. Here, the width of the fairway and distance to hazards are measured. Naturally, this is easier with today's technology: range finders and GPS units and carts certainly take less time than walking off paces or using rope or string! These distances are marked on the worksheet.
The topography of the landing zone is considered: is the lie an uphill, downhill, or sidehill lie? Does the slope of the fairway make the effective width of the fairway smaller? Is the entire green visible from the landing zone? Is there an elevation change from the fairway to the green? All of these questions are answered by the course raters.
Bunkers, hazards, or, fescue and tall rough near the landing zone are also examined and their presence is indicated on the worksheet.
These measurements, observations, and an examinations are again conducted at a landing zone of 250 yards from the tee. This allows the hole to be evaluated from a scratch golfer's perspective.
(These landing zones are for male course ratings; female course ratings have distances adjusted.)
On longer par four holes or par five holes, a second landing area may need to be evaluated for the factors and obstacles.
Each of the members of the smaller group which is assigned to either front or back nine are further assigned a set of tees and a gender to rate. The measurements and evaluations described above are conducted individually. Once the entire group completes their landing zone evaluations, they get together on the green.
On the green, the group collaboratively discusses the bunkers, lateral obstacles, and hills or valleys surrounding the green. They also discuss the green contours and tiers.
The group also reviews the hole together to ensure all raters accurately evaluated the hole. During this conversation is when codes like K (lost ball penalty), W (fairway width adjustment), B and minus B (for bounce away from and towards the green, respectively), and D2 (a measure of green-side bunker depth) are used.
To the uninitiated in course rating like myself, it sounded like a foreign language. But to the experienced raters, it is an easy and concise way to communicate. After all, these raters have to rate at least nine holes.
This evaluation may all seem subjective. However, notes and measures are checked against a table from the USGA Course Rating Manual and converted into numerical values. These values are grounded in objective data. This ensures courses across the country - and around the world - are rated with the same consistency.
Once we were done with the first hole, a process that took approximately 15-20 minutes, we moved on to the second hole, split up to our assigned tee to rate, reconvened at the green, and had another discussion.
This process transpired for the rest of the holes on the front nine until we ended back at the clubhouse. The group working on the back nine underwent the same procedure for their holes.
After about two and a half hours, the entire course rating team was together again. It was time for lunch and preparation to play the golf course.
The course rating team plays the course after its measurement and evaluation. The purpose of this is twofold. It is a small appreciation to the team for volunteering, and also allows the team to confirm their work through hitting actual golf shots.
(Since the course was completely overhauled and essentially a brand new course, someone in our course rating group had the chance to set the course record when we played! Unfortunately, a line of strong thunderstorms came through on the 13th hole, and the horn sounded. No (18-hole) course record was set that day.)
The end result of this process will give the course a Course Rating and Slope Rating for each tee that was rated.
When golfers step to the first tee at their return to Francis Byrne, not only will they experience a newly renovated golf course, but they will also have a newly updated course and slope rating for the course.
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