Slope is the reason you get a different number of strokes on different golf courses — and from different tees on the same course. Here we explain what slope rating and course rating actually mean, how your course handicap is calculated, and why the system exists. You don’t need to work anything out yourself: on slope.no you just pick a course, tee and handicap, and we do the rest. But it’s easier to trust a number when you know where it comes from.
Why does slope exist?
Imagine two players with the same handicap playing two different courses. One course is short and open, the other is long, with tight fairways, water in play and demanding tee shots. For a very good player the difference between the courses is fairly small — a few strokes. For a player with a higher handicap, the hard course can easily cost ten strokes more.
This is what the slope system solves: it measures not just how difficult a course is, but how much harder it becomes the higher your handicap is. That way players at every level can compete fairly, no matter which course and which tee they play from.
The terms — simply explained
Handicap Index
Your general handicap, calculated by your golf federation from your recent rounds (currently: the average of the best 8 of your last 20 rounds). Handicap Index is course-independent — it’s the same number whether you’re playing your home course or a course in Spain. Only when you meet a specific course does slope turn it into strokes.
Course Rating (how hard the course is)
The number of strokes a scratch player (handicap 0) is expected to take on the course from a given tee, under normal conditions. A course rating of 72.4 means a scratch player is expected to play the course in 72.4 strokes. Course rating can be either higher or lower than par.
Slope Rating (how much tougher for ordinary players)
Here’s the clever part: slope measures how much harder the course is for a bogey player (around handicap 20) than for the scratch player. The scale runs from 55 to 155, and 113 is standard. The higher the slope, the faster your number of strokes grows with your handicap. Long forest courses with trouble everywhere often have a slope of 130–140; short, open courses can sit below 113.
Par
The course’s par — the sum of par for all holes. Used in the formula to adjust for the fact that course rating can differ from par.
Course Handicap
The number of strokes you get on this particular course from this particular tee — this is the number slope.no works out for you. In everyday golf many players simply call this their playing handicap; in the World Handicap System it is formally called Course Handicap.
Playing Handicap (adjusted for the format)
In competitions the course handicap is often adjusted by a percentage that depends on the format — for example 95% in a regular stroke-play competition and 100% in singles match play. That adjusted number is called the Playing Handicap. For an ordinary private round, you use the course handicap directly.
The formula — and the mysterious number 113
Course handicap is calculated like this in the World Handicap System:
Course Handicap = Handicap Index × (Slope ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par)
The result is rounded to the nearest whole number (0.5 rounds up).
And why exactly 113? It’s simply the standard value for slope — the value a course with an “average” difficulty profile has. If the slope is higher than 113, your handicap is nudged up a little (you get more strokes); if it’s lower, it’s nudged down. On a course with a slope of exactly 113 the factor becomes 113 ÷ 113 = 1, and you get roughly your handicap in strokes.
You never have to work this out yourself — pick a course on slope.no and it’s done.
A real example: Atlungstad Golfklubb
Let’s take a player with a Handicap Index of 18.0 about to play Atlungstad Golfklubb near Hamar, Norway — the course that was once the reason slope.no was created.
From tee 60 (men): Par 72 · Course Rating 72.4 · Slope 132
18.0 × (132 ÷ 113) + (72.4 − 72) = 21.0 + 0.4 = 21.4 → 21 strokes
The same player from tee 48 (men): Par 72 · Course Rating 66.6 · Slope 120
18.0 × (120 ÷ 113) + (66.6 − 72) = 19.1 − 5.4 = 13.7 → 14 strokes
Same player, same course, same day — but 21 strokes from tee 60 and 14 strokes from tee 48. That’s the whole point of the slope system in a single example: the tee you choose changes how many strokes you get, so the round is fair no matter where you tee off from.
Common misconceptions
“High slope means the course is hard for everyone.” Not quite. Course rating measures how hard the course is for the scratch player; slope measures how much faster it gets harder the higher your handicap is. A course can have a low course rating and a high slope — fine for the best, brutal for the rest.
“I have a handicap of 18, so I get 18 strokes.” Only on a perfectly average course. As the Atlungstad example shows, the same handicap can give anything from 14 to over 21 strokes depending on the course and tee.
“Slope changes my handicap.” No. Your Handicap Index is yours and follows you. Slope only decides how many strokes your index gives you on this particular course, on this particular day.
A short history: from local chaos to the World Handicap System
The slope system was developed by the United States Golf Association, USGA, in the 1980s, after it was realised that a single difficulty number per course wasn’t fair — courses penalise players at different levels differently. In 2020, six different national and regional handicap systems were merged into one shared World Handicap System (WHS), jointly governed by The R&A and the USGA. Since then, golfers all over the world — including the whole Nordic region — have used the same formula and the same slope scale. That’s why the numbers on slope.no work the same whether you play in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland or Iceland.
Where do the numbers on slope.no come from?
All slope values on slope.no come from the clubs’ own slope tables and official sources — the club’s website, the scorecard or the golf federation’s systems. On every single course page you’ll see:
- “Slope last checked” — the date we last verified the values against the source
- “Source” — a link to the source, so you can check for yourself
- “Report an error” — if you spot something wrong, you tell us in two clicks and we fix it quickly
Behind the scenes we monitor the sources continuously and catch changes when clubs re-rate their courses. No number changes automatically — every change is verified against the source before it’s published. Courses are typically re-rated only every 3 to 10 years, so a value that has stood for a long time is usually exactly right.
Playing in a competition? Always verify slope and course handicap with the club — it’s the club’s numbers that count.
Slope in the Nordics — this is why slope.no exists
On slope.no we gather slope information for golf courses in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland — more than 1,200 courses from over 900 clubs. The goal is simple: Nordic golfers should find the right course handicap in seconds, without digging through PDFs, club websites or hidden tables. Pick a course, pick a tee, enter your handicap — done.
→ Find your course · Courses near you
Frequently asked questions
What is slope in golf?
Slope rating is a number between 55 and 155 that describes how much harder a golf course is for an average player than for a scratch player. 113 is the standard value. The higher the slope, the more strokes you get with your handicap.
What is course rating?
Course rating is the number of strokes a scratch player (handicap 0) is expected to take on the course from a given tee. It can be either above or below the course’s par.
How do I calculate my course handicap?
Course Handicap = Handicap Index × (Slope ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par), rounded to the nearest whole number. Or, more simply: pick your course on slope.no and we work it out for you.
What’s the difference between handicap and course handicap?
Handicap Index is your general, course-independent handicap. Course handicap is the number of strokes you get on one specific course from one specific tee — it’s your handicap translated to that particular course.
Why do I get more strokes on some courses?
Because courses have different slope and course rating. A hard course with a high slope gives you more strokes to offset the fact that it penalises higher handicaps more harshly. It’s not a mistake — it’s the system working.
What does the number 113 mean?
113 is the standard slope rating — the value a course with an average difficulty profile has. The formula divides by 113 to scale your handicap up or down relative to that standard.
How does slope work on 9-hole courses?
9-hole courses have their own course rating and slope values for 9 holes. On slope.no we show 9-hole tees where the club has had them rated, and the calculation works the same way.
What if I have a plus handicap?
Players who are better than scratch have a plus handicap (e.g. +2.0). The formula then usually gives a negative course handicap — you give strokes to the course instead of receiving them. Enter “+2” in the calculator on slope.no and we handle the signs correctly.
Where do I find the slope table for a course?
Every course page on slope.no shows complete slope tables for all tees, together with the source and the date the values were last checked. Find your course here.