Courses that measure at least 1,500 yards for 18 holes or 750 yards for nine holes are now eligible to be rated. Kyle LaFerriere/USGA This content was first published in Golf Journal , a quarterly print publication exclusively for USGA Members. To be among the first to receive Golf Journal and to learn how you can ensure a strong future for the game, become a USGA Member today! The city of Wilmington on the North Carolina coast is home to a century-old Donald Ross course (Cape Fear Country Club) and a 25-year-old Tom Fazio design (Eagle Point Golf Club) that sits about 8 miles north of the city.
Both facilities are augmented by nine-hole par-3 courses, each of which was visited in March for the first time by Greg Kelly, the director of Course Rating for the Carolinas Golf Association. Kelly’s charge: Walk the courses, evaluate them, and feed the resulting data into Course Rating System formulas to produce a Course Rating and Slope Rating for each set of tees. Starting in 2024, the World Handicap System (jointly governed by the USGA and the R&A) lowered the minimum length so that courses that measure at least 1,500 yards for 18 holes or 750 yards for nine holes are now eligible to be rated and golfers can post their scores in the World Handicap System .
“Our course is packed to capacity, and the par-3 course gives beginners and juniors a place to learn the game and its etiquette and feel more comfortable before moving to the big course,” says Chris Byrd, Cape Fear’s di.
