PDGA rating rules

Here's how they are calulated as I understand it:

1) rated rounds within 1 year are eligible and averaged
2) 4 most recent rated rounds count double
3) rounds that are more than 2 standard deviations away from the average are not used

Do these seem right? I don't know if I remember all the numbers in the rules correctly.

[Chuck Kennedy]

1) All rounds within 12 months of each player's most recently rated round are counted. If that's less than 8 rounds, we go back up to another 12 months until we find at least 8.
2) The most recent 25% (one fourth) of a player's rounds are double weighted.
3) Rounds more than 2.5 standard deviations below a player's rating or 100 pts, whichever is smaller, are dropped.

[Josh Taylor]

Thanks Chuck, exactly what I was looking for!

Could you reply a little quicker next time, 3 minutes is way too long to wait for a response! ;)

[Josh Taylor]

Chuck-
Are you sure about the 2.5 standard deviations? I had a round that was dropped last rating period and it was barely more than 2 standard deviations less than the average. Now that round is included because I've had some higher rated rounds than before which has increased the size of one stdev for me, but I just wanted to make sure.
(I know it's not really that big of a deal but this stuff bothers me with my math and physics experience)

[Chuck Kennedy]

Yes I'm sure. However, consider that we calculate SD without your lowest rated round included and before double weighting. So the SD we use may be smaller than what you calculated, making the 2.5 more likely?

[Josh Taylor]

Chuck Kennedy said:

Yes I'm sure. However, consider that we calculate SD without your lowest rated round included and before double weighting. So the SD we use may be smaller than what you calculated, making the 2.5 more likely?

So is everyone's lowest rated round always excluded, or do you mean just the ones below the 2.5 SDs?

[Chuck Kennedy]

It's excluded to determine the SD only. If in fact it's really a bad round, we feel it shouldn't be included in the SD calc since it would then increase the SD so the round might end up getting included when it shouldn't be.

[Terry "the Pirate" Calhoun]

I swear it's true, when I saw the initial post I almost posted: "4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . here's Chuck!" :)

Josh Taylor said:

Thanks Chuck, exactly what I was looking for!
Could you reply a little quicker next time, 3 minutes is way too long to wait for a response! ;)

[Grassidy]

I was wondering what are the minimum rating requirements for each division? What does your rating have to be to get bumped to Am1 and Pro?

[Chuck Kennedy]

Page 5

http://www.pdga.com/files/documents/09TourStandardsV1-1.pdf

[Jackson]

Another question: Is there any benefit (ratings-wise) to play a higher division than you're rated for? For example, if an Intermediate player with a rating of 900 plays a sanctioned tournament, would it affect her rating any differently if she played in Intermediate or Advanced, shooting the same score--theoretically, of course? Is it rated any different;y between "levels"? My first thoughts are that you have less of a chance of winning in higher levels, but if that somehow affected your rating it may be worth the pay-off (or lack thereof).

[Chuck Kennedy]

Some people think that playing with better players helps you shoot better. But there's no better rating for the same score if you play in a higher division. You can sometimes earn more points even finishing lower in a higher division than a lower division. If you play in higher divisions that play the same courses but in different rounds than lower divisions, there used to be a slight boost in ratings for the same score. However, now we combine all the scores played on the same courses even in different rounds before doing the ratings so the same score now gets the same rating in all divisions.

[Jackson]

Thanks, Chuck, for the always prompt and enlightening response.