Handicap Notes

BY JORDAN WEINSTEIN CHAIR, HANDICAP SUBCOMMITTEE

The World Handicapping System requires that every golf course’s rating be re-evaluated at least every ten years. Our regional handicapping authority, the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA), makes it a practice to re-evaluate every eight years, whether or not changes have been made. A VSGA team came to SGCC last fall to re-evaluate our course, and our new ratings became effective on January 1, 2023.

VSGA evaluated each hole of the course, setting values for a series of factors including Topography, Fairway, Green Target, Recoverability and Rough, Bunkers, Out of Bounds/Extreme Rough, Penalty Areas,

Trees and Green Surface; and effective playing length factors including Roll, Elevation, Dogleg/Forced Lay Up, Prevailing Wind and Altitude (not a factor as we are near sea level). After their evaluation, VSGA team members played our course to gain greater insight and clarify any doubts or questions that may have arisen on specific holes or shots.

Course ratings are comprised of two components for each tee: the Course Rating and the Slope Rating. The Course Rating is “the evaluation of the playing difficulty of the course for the scratch player under normal playing conditions,” and the Slope Rating is the same evaluation for the bogey player. The rightmost column of the chart shows the differences in Course Rating and Slope Rating at every tee.

With the exception of the forward-most Men’s tees, the slope ratings for Springfield have increased, from two to seven strokes. So if you feel like the golf course has been harder to play than our previous Course Ratings reflected, you are correct!

From a practical standpoint, if you shoot the same scores this year as last year (except, again, for the Men’s forward-most tee boxes), your handicap should decrease somewhat. Think of it as becoming a better golfer by playing the same game!

Note also that VSGA has added new ratings for hybrid tee combinations - one for men, but several for women - opening up several new possibilities for playing our course. These are reflected in the chart with the notation “New.” 