Calculation To Compare 2 Golf Courses - Each Hole And In Total?

[LittleSquidge]

Hello all

Not exactly science, I know - sorry!

I am looking for a calculation (or calculations if two are needed) to compare two golf courses.

Maybe I'm really look for an algorithm?

The scenario would be for instance, if I played golf in Scotland and my Grandad played golf in America. We could then "play together".

We could compare how many shots we hit under or over par (after we take into account our handicaps), but as the courses are completely different this is not really a "fair" reflection of who won.

I need the following outcomes:
- a comparison for each hole on its own (e.g. he won hole 1)
- a comparison of the whole game (all 18 holes combined)

I want this calculation/s to work for any two golf courses anywhere in the world and the information I have to use is as follows:
- the distance for each hole (yards)
- the entire course distance (yards)
- the course par
- the hole par (usually 3, 4 or 5)
- the hole stroke index (a number, with the hardest hole = 1 and the easiest hole = 18)

If we can go further and add in a changeable "number" to reflect wind/rain/etc too - amazing!

[fiction-factory]

I thought that the idea of a par was to be able to compare performances on any courses against the par value - in which case the other stuff about yards etc may not be worth bothering with. (But does wind/weather need to be factored in?)

[Flonska]

Initially you might find some useful information here:-

http://www.englandgolf.org/courseratingdefault.aspx?sitesectionid=672

[Flonska]

Whilst not the only factor, the par of each hole on the golf course is mainly determined by distance. In simple terms, the main issue about distance and par is that it’s thought that a scratch golfer can generally send a golf ball around 250 yards on a single stroke.

The Standard Scratch Score (SSS) is a measure of the difficulty of the golf course. It is the number of strokes a scratch golfer is expected to score around the course under normal mid-season conditions.

[Flonska]

Not sure how long it will take but there are now plans to merge the current six golf handicapping systems across the World into a single universal system:-

http://www.randa.org/News/2017/04/World-Handicap-System-to-be-developed-for-golf