Hi,

New poster here from near Newcastle in the North East.

Just wondered if anyone could expand a little on Standard Scratch Scores; is this what a scratch player would be expected to shoot on a course.

I am secretary of our work golf society; we play every other Tuesday afternoon from April to October, and our handicap system is unique (to give everyone a fair chance of winning rather than CONGU), so I am a ridiculous 7 handicap (bears no resemblance to reality). Last Tuesday at Parklands (by Newcastle Racecourse), I shot 13 over, so assumed that this equated to 13 handicap. How wrong I was. Eager to find out my 'true' handicap, I put my 10 rounds of the year in the handicapper calculator on this great site (golfshake), only to discover SSS for that course was 3 below par, so my score equated to 16 handicap standard, and my 10 rounds has rated me at 17.8.

What a wake up call! Admittedly most rounds have been played in very boggy ground, leading to a number of duff shots etc, and hoping to get this handicap down significantly in the next few months, starting with the Mayor's Charity round at South Shields on Thursday (SSS is only 1 below par there!)

 

How does the SSS compare to par at your clubs? Looking forward to your replies; I think this site is great with such wide course information, links to Google Maps for each course etc.

 

Hello Colin, and welcome to the site, I think you're right in you're SSS calculation theory. The golf club I play at in Sedgefield in Durham has one course at 72 SSS and another at 70 SSS. Strange that because the 70SSS course is the harder of the two to play.

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your welcome from a near neighbour! Who is responsible for these SSS's? Doesn't make sense in your case! For the ones I've played this year the SSS's seem sensible, but I'll keep my eye out!!

SSS is calculated by the County Union the Club is Affiliated to. Basically a team of course officials go round and measure the yardage of each hole on the course from each set of tees and thus assign the courses official yardage and SSS. They use a theortical system of how a scratch player would play each hole. Basically on Par 4s and Par 5s they measure a point 260 yards the average length of your scratch player and then determine whats left to the green and what club they'd be hitting in ideal playing conditions.

Basically SSS is calculated on length with that being the majority difficulty factor. Long courses will have high SSS scores. Actual difficulty i.e. Hazards, Bunkers, Out of Bounds etc only effect a holes difficulty rating by + or - a Point.

I play a course that is a par 70 from the yellow tees, with a SSS of 66!!!

Means I have to be four shots under par just to be level with my handicap!

Russ

The course is easy Russ that's why

Thanks for your detailed response Chris - makes more sense as to why 2 courses I have played recently are SSS 68 (and why others I have played/ are to play are 70/71)

If you think the Priors is easy, Wayne then I suggest you make an attempt to play to your handicap around it.

I have two courses at my club and the shorter of the two has an par 69 and SSS 67 and it is far more difficult than the longer course which has a par of &" and an SSS of 71.

SSS is a completely unnecessary piece of legislation into the amateur game that has no tangible benefits because when I play away from home my handicap is never adjusted to take into account the degree of difficulty variance between my home club and the visiting club. So what purpose does it serve?

Answers please on a postcard.

JP,

Your Hcp doesn't change because your "Target Score" does. I know you don't agree with SSS but your statement has a flaw.

Home course, Par 72 - SSS 70 = Target Score 86.

Away Course, Par 72 - SSS 72 = Target Score 88.

The Away course is harder so you can drop two extra shots against Par. Or play off 18 against Par.

In the Handicap System this last 12 months when you play away from your home club, the away course should calculate a seperate SSS or CSS in competition for all away members as they are at disadvantage to the home members. However I've yet to come across one club thats actually doing this, so those of us who ply our trade all over the place, we not be treated fairly.

Chris,

That system also has a flaw. Say I was a member at two clubs, I would have the same Hcp at both?

IMHO, SSS is still the fairest way to differentuate between two courses.

TheLyth

Should be scrapped, the pro's don't play to SSS or CSS, so why should we. There is not one logical reason for this stupidity.

Hold on.

Surely the par of a hole determines how many shots it should be played in, to score a par.

My home course is a par 68 with an SSS of 65...

Why not just make it a par 65 course?

Whatever three holes the county union deem to be playing below par, should be played at a lower par...

For once I think I'm agreeing with JP...

Ray, nice of you to agree with me, if only the once, but par is par. Pars were introduced on the basis of the number of shots a good player would need to get to the green plus an allowance of two strokes for putting. Apart from the freak occasions when shots are holed out from a long way away, the only way to get under par is to single putt.

Chris W has stated that the SSS is based virtually on the total length of a course, which again is a flawed system. Why? lets assume we have an 18 hole course of all par fives.. The Par alone would be 90 and the SSS would be off the radar but this setup would be the easiest of all to shoot a good score on in relation to par.

I would like to know where these shots are going to come from that are taken from the par, because there are no par 4's I can drive and the par fives are unreachable in three for me now.

We do not need a SSS system to tell us which courses are harder than others.

Just looked at a few courses and you'll agree when looking at the stats they don't match!!!!

Name          Yardage    Par     SSS

Conwy          6647        72    &n
bsp; 74

Carnoustie    6243       69       71

Charlville      6230       69       70

Bedford        5357      72        71

 

So clearly yardages are not the most important factor especially when you look at Bedford!!!!

TeesYardsParSSSWhite64787272Yellow60767270Red53577271

These are the tees for Bedord, Wayne, you only quoted the ladies tees.

 

Sorry I forgot the south have finished the NvS

The Standard Scratch Score (SSS) assessment is typically made by the County Unions on behalf of their National Union (especially England). Provisionally, it is based upon the total length of the course and need not match the sum of the Par's for each hole. Consideration is given to difficulty of natural conditions (number of hazards, etc.). Ultimately, it is a subjective assessment, typically made by a small 'committee' of top amateur golfers.

The Welsh Golfing Union and the Scottish Golfing Union now rate their courses using the 'Course Rating System of the United States Golf Association' as the basis.

The English Golf Union uses their own criteria for assessment. Here, when a club first requests a Standard Scratch Score for a course (perhaps the club is a new club, or they are opening a new or revised course), they will be allocated a 'Provisional' Standard Scratch Score based on the overall length of the course. This is based upon the 'Table of Provisional Standard Scratch Scores'. Later, a visual inspection and assessment may be made, taking into account playing difficulty of the course, etc. This may recommend an adjustment to the Provisional SSS, for the final SSS.

Currently, the English Golf Union weight the final assessment on the basis of 85% overall length and 15% difficulty of course, etc. Table of Provisional Standard Scratch Scores

Standard length of Course

Lengths included in Standard Length

Provisional Standard Scratch Score

Yards

Yards

7392

7282-7501

75

7172

7062-7281

74

6952

6842-7061

73

6732

6622-6841

72

6512

6402-6621

71

6292

6182-6401

70

6072

5962-6181

69

5852

5742-5961

68

5632

5522-5471

67

5412

5302-5521

66

5192

5082-5301

65

4972

4862-5081

64

4752

4642-4861

63

4532

4422-4641

62

4312

4202-4421

61

4092

3982-4201

60

Course A - 18 holes all 265 yards par 4 - Par 72

Course B - 18 holes all 445 yards par 4 - Par 72

 

Does this really work?

However I've yet to come across one club thats actually doing this,

a) It is compulsory

b) They haven't got a choice if they are using a computer system. It is built in.

Course A - 18 holes all 265 yards par 4 - Par 72 would be SSS 63

Course B - 18 holes all 445 yards par 4 - Par 72 would probably be SSS 76/77

Christopher,

 

Your complaint about CSS for "Away" players is not quite true. Separate CSS should only be calculated if the number of both "Home" and "Away" players exceeds 20. Then, if the "Home" CSS is higher than the "Away" CSS, it reverts to a single CSS.

Colin

If you go to the English Golf Union website, click on handicaps, then handicap publications, you can download a pdf on how courses are assessed for SSS.