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Slope Rating

By Brent Kelley, About.com

Definition: USGA Slope Rating is a number ranging from 55 to 155 that represents the difficulty of a course for bogey golfers relative to the USGA Course Rating (which represents the difficulty for scratch golfers).

Slope rating is not expressed in strokes, but, rather, is a ratio. The higher the slope, the more difficult the course plays for bogey golfers. A slope rating of 113 is considered average.

Slope rating plays an important role in figuring handicap indexes and also is used to figure course handicaps.

See also:
How are course rating and slope rating determined?
Why is it called "slope"?

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