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Course Ratings and Your Handicap Index

The driving force behind your USGA Handicap Index is the Course and Slope Rating. If the ratings don’t accurately reflect the playing difficulty of the golf course, your Handicap Index will not travel well from golf course to golf course.
All golf courses must be rated according to USGA Course Rating procedures and only by amateur golf associations licensed by the USGA, like the Arizona Golf Association. Because the Course and Slope Ratings are so important to your Handicap Index, this service is provided as a part of a club’s membership with the AGA.
The USGA requires all golf courses to be re-rated at least every 10 years. Because new courses change rapidly in the first few years, they should be re-rated every three years for the first nine years.
Each course is rated by a team of AGA staff and volunteers and the process takes about three to four hours. Each hole is evaluated using the USGA Course Rating System guidelines from two different points of view, how the hole plays for a scratch player (a golfer with a Course Handicap of zero) and a bogey player (a golfer with a Course Handicap of 20 for men or 24 for women). In essence, the ratings team is trying to predict scoring for each of these groups of players. Following the analysis and obstacle evaluation, the course rating team will normally play the golf course to clarify any questions that may have been raised on specific holes or shots.
Below you’ll find the courses we’ve recently rated along with their new ratings.               
Desert Canyon
·         Black – 69.9/125
·         Blue – 68.4/118
·         White – 66.6/114
Haven Golf Course         
·         Blue – 71.2/124
·         White – 69.2/117
·         Gold – 66.2/111
·         Red – 62.9/106
La Paloma Country Club, Canyon/Hill Course      
·         Black – 72.7/146
·         Gold – 70.5/139
·         Silver – 68.1/129
·         Copper – 66.2/125          
La Paloma Country Club, Hill/Ridge Course          
·         Black – 72.0/145
·         Gold – 69.7/139
·         Silver – 67.3/129
·         Copper – 65.9/127          
La Paloma Country Club, Ridge/Canyon Course 
·         Black – 72.9/151
·         Gold – 71.4/142
·         Silver – 68.2/132
·         Copper – 66.9/129
Peninsula de Cortes       
·         Black – 74.7/140
·         Blue – 72.4/134
·         White – 71.0/130
·         Gold – 65.0/109
Skyline Country Club     
·         Black – 69.5/129
·         Blue – 67.5/123
·         Silver – 64.9/114
·         Gold – 62.6/106
Trilogy Golf Club at Power Ranch             
·         Black – 71.5/130
·         Blue – 69.0/122
·         White – 66.5/112
Viewpont Golf Resort   
·         Champion – 69.2/117
·         Regular – 66.4/113
·         Senior – 64.5/104