Slope Rating measures how much harder a course plays for a bogey golfer than for a scratch golfer. It equals 5.381 times the gap between Bogey Rating and Course Rating for men, or 4.240 times it for women. A men's tee rated 72.5 with a bogey rating of 96.7 has a gap of 24.2 strokes, so its slope is 130.
Club handicap committees, golf society organisers and curious players use this to see where a printed Slope Rating comes from, or to estimate one for a set of tees that only lists its Course Rating and Bogey Rating. Pick men's or women's ratings, enter both ratings, and the result shows the slope, how far it sits from the standard 113, and a plain difficulty label on a 55 to 155 scale. Add your Handicap Index and the par of the tees to see the course handicap you would play off under the World Handicap System. The figure is only as good as the ratings you enter: official ratings come from trained teams measuring effective playing length and obstacles on site, and this calculation cannot replace that survey.
Select men's or women's ratings; the multiplier changes from 5.381 to 4.240.
Type the Course Rating and Bogey Rating from the scorecard or rating sheet for one set of tees.
Fill in Handicap Index and par to get a course handicap for those tees.
The chart places the slope against easier, average, hard and very hard bands.
Result Slope Rating: 113
Difficulty for a bogey golfer: Around average difficulty
Bogey minus Course Rating: 21
Points above standard 113: 0
Course handicap: —
A bogey rating 21 strokes above the course rating gives exactly the standard Slope Rating of 113.
Result Slope Rating: 113
Difficulty for a bogey golfer: Around average difficulty
Bogey minus Course Rating: 26.6
Points above standard 113: 0
Course handicap: —
Women's ratings use the 4.240 factor, so a wider 26.6-stroke gap is needed to reach 113.
Result Slope Rating: 130
Difficulty for a bogey golfer: Harder than average
Bogey minus Course Rating: 24.2
Points above standard 113: 17
Course handicap: 12
5.381 × 24.2 gives a slope of 130, and a 10.0 index plays to a course handicap of 12 here.
Slope = round(F × (BR − CR)), held between 55 and 155; Course handicap = HI × Slope ÷ 113 + (CR − Par)
FBRCRHIThe USGA Course Rating System defines slope as the rate at which scores climb as ability drops. The multiplier scales the scratch-to-bogey gap so that an average course lands on 113; the women's factor is smaller because the reference bogey golfer for women has a higher handicap. Results are rounded to a whole number and limited to the official 55 to 155 range. The course handicap follows the World Handicap System formula and is rounded to the nearest whole stroke.
The system was calibrated so that a course of average relative difficulty gets 113. A Handicap Index is defined for that standard course, which is why the course handicap formula divides by 113.
Official slopes run from 55 to 155. Most championship and resort tees fall between about 115 and 145, while short or open parkland tees often sit between 100 and 120.
The reference bogey golfer is defined with a Handicap Index of about 20 for men and 24 for women. That larger spread for women means each stroke of rating gap counts for less slope, so the factor is 4.240 rather than 5.381.
Yes. Two tees rated 71.0 for a scratch player can differ a lot for a bogey player if one has forced carries, narrow fairways or heavy rough that punish missed shots. That difference shows up only in the Bogey Rating and therefore in the slope.
Your index is multiplied by slope over 113. A 10.0 index becomes about 11.5 on a 130 slope and about 8.8 on a 100 slope, before the Course Rating minus par adjustment is added.
It is rarely printed on scorecards. National associations and some club rating sheets list it next to the Course Rating; if you only have Course Rating and slope, you can work it back as CR plus slope divided by the factor.
Using this tool in an assignment, article or report? Copy a citation, or a link for your website.
Tools Directory Editorial Team. (2026, October 10). Golf Slope Rating. Tools Directory. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://tools.milunir.com/sports/golf-bowling-and-racquet-sports/golf-slope-rating/
Tools Directory Editorial Team. “Golf Slope Rating.” Tools Directory, 10 Oct. 2026, https://tools.milunir.com/sports/golf-bowling-and-racquet-sports/golf-slope-rating/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
Tools Directory Editorial Team. “Golf Slope Rating.” Tools Directory. Last modified October 10, 2026. Accessed October 26, 2026. https://tools.milunir.com/sports/golf-bowling-and-racquet-sports/golf-slope-rating/.
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