How the rating works

Every player on ThrowArena has one rating that rises and falls with how you actually play. The course is the opponent, not the people you played with.

The course is the opponent

Every layout has a difficulty: what a player rated 1000 is expected to shoot per hole. Your round rating is how far above or below that you shot. One stroke per hole is worth 180 points.

Example: on an 18-hole layout, finishing three strokes better than a 1000 player is a sixth of a stroke per hole, so the round is rated 1030.

Why not Elo

  • Solo rounds count. You don't need an opponent for the course to exist.
  • Players in different cities are comparable without ever sharing a card.
  • Everyone can climb at the same time. Your points aren't taken from someone else.
  • The margin matters, because the rating is measured in strokes, not wins.
  • Easy courses can't be farmed. A low difficulty pays out a low rating.

Six tiers

Each tier is half a stroke per hole above the one below. The floors are calibrated against PDGA's published ratings, not guessed.

  1. BronzeStart
  2. Silverfrom 775
  3. Goldfrom 865
  4. Platinumfrom 955
  5. Diamondfrom 1045
  6. Mastertop 2 %

Master is seats, not a threshold: the top 2 % of the board, only once at least 10 players are on it, and always with diamond as a requirement.

Holding your tier

Reaching a floor is enough to move up. You only drop a tier when you fall 20 points below its floor, so one bad round doesn't cost you your rank.

Calibration first

Your first 5 rated rounds show a counter, not a number. A rating from one round is a guess, and a guess shown as a grade is worse than no grade.

Which rounds count

  • At least 9 holes, and the whole layout.
  • A round with at least two signed-in players is verified: someone else saw the scores being written.
  • Solo rounds, or rounds with only guests, still count, but move an established rating about a quarter as much.
  • The global ladder needs 2 verified rounds. Your own rating starts with your first round.

After a break

The rating carries an uncertainty that grows while you don't play. Come back in spring and it moves faster again, because the app no longer knows what you're worth.

Start climbing

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