How Tough Is Augusta National?

How Tough Is Augusta National? #golf #themasters BY DEAN KNUTH PHOTOS BY J.D. CUBAN April 2010 Nearly every golf course in North America, Asia and Continental Europe has been rated for handicapping purposes using the USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating system that I developed more than 30 years ago. Notably, all but a handful of the courses among Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest have been rated officially by authorized regional and state golf associations. So it seems curious that the No. 1-ranked course, Augusta National Golf Club, doesn't have an official USGA rating.

The reason? Despite the fact that almost every member has a USGA Handicap Index from another club, Augusta National maintains its system for members only.

As Golf Digest Contributing Editor David Owen wrote in his book, The Making of the Masters,the system developed by co-founder Clifford Roberts is based on the number of pars a player ordinarily makes in a round, with a small adjustment for birdies. If you average six pars per round, for example, your handicap would be 12. (Think of it as 18 holes minus six pars equals a handicap of 12.) The club also uses Roberts' method for allocating handicap strokes, using yardage as the criterion. READ MORE