What Would a Tour Pro Shoot at Hart Ranch?
A valid question I’m sure you’ve come across, no matter where you play. What would the average PGA Tour player shoot on your home course?
First, a quick reminder of rating and slope:
Course Rating: Course Rating defines the USGA® mark indicating the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions. It is expressed as strokes taken to one decimal place, and is based on yardage and other obstacles to the extent that they affect the scoring ability of a scratch golfer. Course Rating is equivalent to the better half average of a scratch golfer’s scores under normal playing conditions.
Slope Rating: A Slope Rating is the USGA’s mark that indicates the measurement of the relative difficulty of a course for players who are not scratch golfers compared to the USGA Course Rating (e.g., compared to the difficulty of a course for scratch golfers). A Slope Rating is computed from the difference between the Bogey Rating and the USGA Course Rating. The lowest Slope Rating is 55 and the highest is 155. A golf course of standard playing difficulty has a Slope Rating of 113.
Here’s a handy chart to show you how your Index stands up:
| Handicap Index | Percent of Total | Cumulative |
| +1.0 or better | 0.92% | 0.92% |
| +0.9 to 0.0 | 0.68% | 1.60% |
| 0.1 to 1.0 | 0.95% | 2.55% |
| 1.1 to 1.9 | 1.26% | 3.81% |
| 2.0 to 2.9 | 1.62% | 5.43% |
| 3.0 to 3.9 | 2.07% | 7.51% |
| 4.0 to 4.9 | 2.60% | 10.11% |
| 5.0 to 5.9 | 3.20% | 13.30% |
| 6.0 to 6.9 | 3.77% | 17.07% |
| 7.0 to 7.9 | 4.35% | 21.42% |
| 8.0 to 8.9 | 4.76% | 26.18% |
| 9.0 to 9.9 | 5.13% | 31.31% |
| 10.0 to 10.9 | 5.43% | 36.74% |
| 11.0 to 11.9 | 5.66% | 42.40% |
| 12.0 to 12.9 | 5.72% | 48.12% |
| 13.0 to 13.9 | 5.69% | 53.82% |
| 14.0 to 14.9 | 5.47% | 59.28% |
| 15.0 to 15.9 | 5.10% | 64.38% |
| 16.0 to 16.9 | 4.69% | 69.07% |
| 17.0 to 17.9 | 4.33% | 73.40% |
| 18.0 to 18.9 | 3.78% | 77.17% |
| 19.0 to 19.9 | 3.34% | 80.51% |
| 20.0 to 20.9 | 2.96% | 83.47% |
| 21.0 to 21.9 | 2.62% | 86.10% |
| 22.0 to 22.9 | 2.30% | 88.40% |
| 23.0 to 23.9 | 1.98% | 90.38% |
| 24.0 to 24.9 | 1.68% | 92.06% |
| 25.0 to 25.9 | 1.43% | 93.50% |
| 26.0 to 26.9 | 1.19% | 94.69% |
| 27.0 to 27.9 | 1.00% | 95.69% |
| 28.0 to 28.9 | 0.82% | 96.52% |
| 29.0 to 29.9 | 0.68% | 97.19% |
| 30.0 to 30.9 | 0.54% | 97.74% |
| 31.0 to 31.9 | 0.45% | 98.19% |
| 32.0 to 32.9 | 0.36% | 98.55% |
| 33.0 to 33.9 | 0.29% | 98.84% |
| 34.0 to 34.9 | 0.24% | 99.08% |
| 35.0 to 36.4 | 0.92% | 100.00% |
Hart Ranch’s men’s course rating from the tips is 72.8, has a slope of 129 and plays at 6,833 yards. So, on a good round, a male scratch golfer would be expected to shoot around 73 or below. The thing is, PGA Tour Pros are far better than scratch.
Bubba Watson carries a +7.7 index at Isleworth CC in Florida (77.7 Rating, 137 Slope), while Phil Mickelson (+5.2), Paul Casey (+6) and Martin Kaymer (+6.6) carry their indexes at Whisper Rock GC in Arizona (75 Rating, 145 Slope). To even consider playing on Tour (and that includes Web.com), you’d probably need to be at least somewhere in the +5 – +7 range at Hart Ranch.
Here’s another helpful chart, showing some of the more difficult courses on the PGA Tour:
And here’s what you’d be expected to fire at Augusta National (although they don’t release Course and Slope Ratings, see more info here):
Considering Patrick Reed finished at 15 under this year, or 3.75 under per round under enormous pressure, you can see just how good the best in the world are. Yes, they have caddies, swing coaches and usually course knowledge if they’ve been around for awhile, but it’s still remarkable.
So, if one of these fellas played Hart Ranch (in the middle of the summer) for the first time, without the benefit of a caddy or course knowledge, what would they fire? I’d put it somewhere in the 66-70 range, especially since the speed and slope of the Hart Ranch greens and South Dakota winds can give anyone some trouble. If they were to play 3+ times, they would probably shoot 65 or below. Hart’s current course record is 66, which is an excellent score from the back tees, but it wouldn’t take long for a PGA Tour player to smash it. I’m just saying they’d probably need to play a couple times.
As always, please let us know your thoughts. Like you, we’re ready for some warm weather. Happy Golfing!
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