The Louisiana Golf Association provides course
measuring and rating services to member and non-member clubs on a
periodic basis. The goal of the LGA is to rate each Louisiana course every
10 years. If the club is new, (those that have been in existence
for less than ten years) we will re-rate the course every three years of
its first nine years of existence. Those clubs that have undergone
renovations must submit a request form to the LGA for consideration.
This service is provided free of charge to LGA Member Clubs and for a fee to
non-member clubs. The LGA course rating schedule is in accordance
with USGA guidelines.
HISTORY OF COURSE
RATING
Whether it was the expected score that it would take
to win “The Belt” at Prestwick in 1870 or the expected score of Colonel
Bogey in the 1890’s, most of the course rating systems developed before
the turn of the century were based on par.
The first USGA Course Rating System was developed in 1911 and was, like
the systems developed in the British Isles, par based. The first
USGA Course Rating System was based on the play (expected score) of US
Amateur Champion, Jerome Travers. Several golf associations made
refinements to this system over the years and the USGA adopted several
of these refinements in 1947. These refinements included rating on
a hole-by-hole basis (A Massachusetts GA refinement) and the “fractional
par rating method.” (A refinement from the Chicago District GA) Since
both refinements arrived at approximately the same ratings, golf
associations were allowed to use either system. In 1963 the USGA
introduced a new rating system that used the Massachusetts rating system
modified by principles of the Chicago District rating system.
In 1971 the first “obstacle rating” procedure was developed by the
Southern California GA. In 1977 Lt. Commander Dean Knuth proposed
an improved course rating system that involved numerical rating of ten
obstacles on each hole. These ratings provided an adjustment to
the distance rating of the golf course. Knuth’s system was adopted
by the USGA in 1981 and became the basis for the USGA Course Rating
System that we use today.
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