Course Ratings for Old Macdonald Released

WOODBURN, ORE. (April 16, 2010) - When USGA Executive Director David Fay mentions that Bandon Dunes Resort in Bandon, Ore. has become "the epicenter of golf on Planet Earth," the scheduled opening of the resorts' fourth course on June 1 essentially becomes one of the most anticipated golf course openings worldwide. The course will have a lot to live up to with the other three courses - Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails - all ranked among the top 25 courses in the world by several leading golf publications.   With that, the Oregon Golf Association has calculated the USGA Course and Slope Ratings for Old Macdonald, the fourth course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

The layout is a tribute to Charles Blair Macdonald (1856-1939), the father of American golf course architecture and one of the founders of the United States Golf Association. Designed by Tom Doak (who also designed Pacific Dunes) and Jim Urbina, Old Macdonald features the classic principles and strategies that Macdonald incorporated into his own courses, chiefly National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York. 
 
Old Macdonald, a par-71 course, will play 6,978 yards from the Black tees with a USGA Course Rating of 74.1 and a USGA Slope Rating of 133. The most forward tees, Royal Blue, are 4,280 yards with a USGA Course Rating of 62.6 and a USGA Slope Rating of 104.
 
"I can see where wide fairways, huge greens and beautiful vistas are going to make Old Macdonald a favorite course for many," said Gretchen Yoder, Manager of Handicapping and Course Rating for the Oregon Golf Association.
 
"We rated all five sets of tees for Men, and all but the back tees for Women," she added. "It's certainly a challenging course for the better golfer, but I think it's also the most user-friendly course at the resort -- especially for families, women and higher handicappers if they select the most appropriate set of tees. With a variety of routes and approaches to greens nearly impossible to miss, it'll be a fun course to play over and over again!"
 
With stretches that are flat, wide open and unprotected from the elements, as well as a Hell Bunker and a Road Hole, some might find similarities to St. Andrews. But, significant elevation changes and holes reminiscent of other Macdonald favorites such as the par-3 Barritz Hole with its 26,000 sq. ft green that is divided in half by a puttable chasm, it's really unlike any other course.
 
A USGA Course Rating is the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer under normal course and weather conditions for the purpose of providing a uniform basis on which to issue USGA Handicap Indexes.
 
A USGA Slope Rating evaluates the relative playing difficulty of each set of tees for non-scratch golfers and is used in calculating a course handicap from a handicap index. It adjusts a handicap for a higher handicap golfer to the scratch golfer.
 The Oregon Golf Association is also responsible for maintaining the integrity of the USGA Handicap System and is authorized to issue handicaps to members of its member clubs. The purpose of a handicap index is to measure the potential ability of a golfer relative to par and provide a portable number that can be converted to a handicap specific to the course being played.
 
 The course rating system is designed to ensure that the rating of a course is in proper relation to the ratings of other courses so that players regularly playing different courses can be equitably compared.
 
Course ratings are objective evaluations of a course's difficulty based on a number of factors including roll, elevation, forced lay-ups, prevailing winds, altitude, topography, fairway width, green targets, recoverability and rough, bunkers, hazards, trees, and effective playing length.
 
Accuracy and consistency are the keys to effective course rating. Measurements and ratings are conducted by experienced teams of three trained and experienced raters including both staff and volunteers of the OGA. Through the collection of data on thousands of golfers and golf holes, the factors that affect difficulty have been assigned values that yield accurate and uniform ratings when applied to a course in its entirety. Results are evaluated by a Course Rating Review Committee prior to its release.
 
As the governing body of golf in Oregon and SW Washington, the Oregon Golf Association is licensed by the United States Golf Association to determine the measurements including course and slope ratings for all golf courses in its region. The OGA rates established golf courses on a seven-year cycle and upon request if major renovations have been made. New courses are re-rated after three years to accommodate natural changes made to a course as it matures.  

OLD MACDONALD - PAR 71

Tee Marker Description	Yards	Type	USGA Course Rating	USGA Slope Rating	Front 9 Course Rating	Front 9 Slope Rating	Back 9 Course Rating	Back 9 Slope Rating
Black	6,978	M	74.1	133	35.3	126	38.8	140
Green	6,352	M	71.3	127	34.1	121	37.2	133
Gold	5,690	M	68.2	119	33.1	111	35.1	126
Orange	5,044	M	65.4	110	31.7	101	33.7	119
Royal Blue	4,280	M	62.6	104	30.5	96	32.1	112
Green	6,352	W	77.7	136	37.0	127	40.7	145
Gold	5,690	W	73.9	129	35.6	122	38.3	135
Orange	5,044	W	70.4	118	33.8	110	36.6	126
Royal Blue	4,280	W	66.4	108	31.6	98	34.8	118

 

*NOTE:  The USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating show that the front nine holes play considerably easier for both the Scratch and Bogey golfer.  The primary reason for this is that the opening holes are considerably shorter than the holes on the back nine.  In fact, the front nine yardage for the Black Tees is nearly 1,000 fewer yards that the yardage on the back nine.

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