Did you sprain your back trying to reach the green in two on that 600 yard par 5? Is it 3 a.m. and your course doesn't have lights, but you still have golf on your mind? Do you live in an area where courses close for the winter and it's 10℉ outside? Well, you're in luck because now you can keep your brain tuned to golf by helping to keep this database of golf courses up to date to help you and your fellow golfers!
OpenStrokes is made possible because of your efforts. The site is for you, and as such, depends on the efforts of you and many others.
In this quick tutorial, we'll give you tips and hints for how to help out by using the site tools to provide missing or out-of-date information.
OpenStrokes is laid out to have a three tiered structure. Top tier is
the facility. This can be considered the actual location.
The facility consists mostly of contact information (address, phone, etc).
Every facility has at least one course (the
next tier). Most facilities will have only one course. No course exists
without a facility.
Every course has at least one teebox. You know, those
things where we always play above our ability? Anyway, this is where
the meat of the information is contained. A teebox tracks
yardage per hole, par and slope and rating numbers.
As a wise man once said, "do what you know." Find your regular courses and add them to your favorites using the icon next to the facility name. You can then use the same icon in the navigation bar to see all of the places you've marked as favorite.
A quick way to find your courses is to take advantage of our nearby listings through the icon.
The first thing you will do is verify the exact name of the facility, the address, phone number and other information. The best way to do this is either through the Google map link, or searching for the facility directly.
On the OpenStrokes facility page, there will be a button that will allow you to edit information. Try to get as much of this completed as possible. Some of it is required, but don't stress if you can't find it all. Accuracy is more important than anything.
Sometimes it's hard to find what you need. We've found the quickest route is to get scorecard information from the facility's website. If that doesn't work, then take yourself right up to the golf course and ask them for a scorecard, bring it home, and fill in the blanks.
Also, on the USGA website, you can find the National Course Rating Database which will give you those whacky numbers used to calculate how many strokes your partner will be giving you at the club championship. That DB is the definitive resource for these numbers and should supersede any other information you find.
Note that slope and rating are given on a per teebox basis
and are different for women and men. Some teeboxes will give only a men's
slope and rating, some both men and women, and some only women's. Make
sure to fill in the values for the correct gender.