EasyScorecard Rating accuracy

[the_pwnerator]

Does anyone know how accurate EasyScorecard is when it comes to trying to calculate the "PDGA" rating? I'm just curious because after 20 or so rounds it says I'm a 900 rated player and I really don't feel that that is correct. Anyone who uses both who can report on its accuracy?

 

[Stevo]

When I use ES, it's only for casual rounds and my rating hovers around 960-970, when my actual PDGA rating is usually between 920-930. When I compare scores between my casual rounds and my tourney rounds (on the same course), my tournament rounds are usually about 4 strokes worse, which to me seems pretty accurate. I believe that if the courses are updated frequently in the ES database, it is pretty accurate, as long as you are playing in the same conditions. I am certainly no expert on ratings - ERicJ is a master of ES though. He can shed light on this.

 

[the_pwnerator]

When I use ES, it's only for casual rounds and my rating hovers around 960-970, when my actual PDGA rating is usually between 920-930. When I compare scores between my casual rounds and my tourney rounds (on the same course), my tournament rounds are usually about 4 strokes worse, which to me seems pretty accurate. I believe that if the courses are updated frequently in the ES database, it is pretty accurate, as long as you are playing in the same conditions. I am certainly no expert on ratings - ERicJ is a master of ES though. He can shed light on this.

Ok thanks Stevo. As long as it's semi accurate I'm OK with that. It clocks me in at 935, so sounds like I might be right around high 800's or low 900's for tournament rounds.

 

[ERicJ]

Accuracy as you've put it, I'm assuming is in reference to actual PDGA ratings.

The accuracy of ESC round ratings depends primarily on how well the SSA is set for the course on easyscorecard.net (or in your own app), but also depends on the playing conditions of your round vs. what the SSA reflects.

E.g.'s

If the course, under typical conditions, has an SSA of 49... but for some reason the SSA in your app is set to 53, then you're going to get inflated round ratings.

If the course, under typical conditions, has an SSA of 49... but it's pouring down rain with blustering wind when you play then you're going to get deflated round ratings.

--

PDGA ratings are "accurate" because the SSA is unique for each round and is calculated from the scores of the players in that round. SSA can easily vary one or two strokes from round to round which translates to ~10-20 ratings points.

As I said above: the key to getting generally accurate ratings from ESC is making sure the SSA you use is reflective of the conditions you played. For the Houston courses I try to keep the easyscorecard.net SSA's updated with typical condition tournament values.

--

The last thing to consider is how Player ratings are calculated. In short, the PDGA uses your last ~12 months, double weights the most recent 25%, and throws out exceptionally low rounds. IIRC ESC is using all rounds from the last 180 days unless you specifically mark the round as a "practice round" in the Properties->Advanced Options menu. Practice rounds are not factored into ESC Player ratings.

--

FYI, with 115 rounds in ESC for 2012 (not sure how many in the last six months) I'm listed with a 940 player rating. On the PDGA ratings update this week I went from 941 to 946. To me that seems pretty darn accurate.

 

[the_pwnerator]

Thanks EricJ, that is easily the best I've ever heard PDGA ratings explained.

 

[grodney]

Yeah, as ERicJ said, it all depends on how accurate the SSA in EasyScorecard is.

If you use a typical SSA value for each course (either by input, or from easyscorecard.net), and the rounds you play have conditions that average out to typical, then your rating will be very accurate.

 

[BZoods]

I haven't used the app in quite a long time, but it sounds like there's a database of courses on the website now?

 

[joshuajames]

So I have ESC Pro and how do I access my round ratings?

 

[Stevo]

joshuajames: go to edit a player and under "Handicap System" select DG Rating and automatic for Calculation. You can download/link to an existing course in the ES database - select "Courses" then in the top right corner there is a download icon. You have to login to the easyscorecard.net database IIRC then you can search for your courses. Pars, distances, etc will auto populate and as long as the SSAs are up to date (by whomever uploaded the course to begin with), your round ratings should be pretty accurate (like ERicJ said, depending on conditions, etc).

ERicJ, correct me if I'm wrong - you have helped me with this app in the past.

 

[joshuajames]

joshuajames: go to edit a player and under "Handicap System" select DG Rating and automatic for Calculation. You can download/link to an existing course in the ES database - select "Courses" then in the top right corner there is a download icon. You have to login to the easyscorecard.net database IIRC then you can search for your courses. Pars, distances, etc will auto populate and as long as the SSAs are up to date (by whomever uploaded the course to begin with), your round ratings should be pretty accurate (like ERicJ said, depending on conditions, etc).

ERicJ, correct me if I'm wrong - you have helped me with this app in the past.

Thank you SteveO!

 

[joshuajames]

Crap! Why did I not know about the import courses / DG rating calculations. At least from now on it's in there.

 

[grodney]

Pretty sure you can re-calc your ratings for past rounds if you add/update an SSA after-the-fact. Though I can't find the derned thing right now.

 

[grodney]

Oh here it is. When you go into a course and update its SSA, when you hit save it prompts you whether you want to update past rounds to use the updated SSA. If you hit Yes, it re-calcs your rating for all those past rounds.

 

[wake911]

Wow, i wish that were my PDGA rating...i gotta stop blowing COMPLETELY in tournaments, haha, my practice rounds are fantastic...actually brought up my hopes that I really am a pretty decent player...haha

 

[patdb23]

I have 134 rounds in ESC. I have used ESC during a few PDGA sanctioned rounds and compared it to the PDGA SSA. Typically ESC is about 20-25 points higher than PDGA, but not always the case since PDGA SSA is dependent on the propagators performance in that round. I have found to be conservative and subtract 20 points from my ESC rating to come up with a rating closer to a PDGA rating.

 

[holotone]

The Easy Scorecard estimated scratch is based solely on hole length, so I'd say it's a reeeeaally rough estimate. I used the average of 10 SSAs generated by our weekly tag rounds on days with average conditions - It is always within 20pts off the same tee during sanctioned events.

 

[ERicJ]

joshuajames: go to edit a player and under "Handicap System" select DG Rating and automatic for Calculation. You can download/link to an existing course in the ES database - select "Courses" then in the top right corner there is a download icon. You have to login to the easyscorecard.net database IIRC then you can search for your courses. Pars, distances, etc will auto populate and as long as the SSAs are up to date (by whomever uploaded the course to begin with), your round ratings should be pretty accurate (like ERicJ said, depending on conditions, etc).

ERicJ, correct me if I'm wrong - you have helped me with this app in the past.

You also want to go to Settings --> Scorecard Customization and check the box for "Show Handicap Analysis".

 

[ERicJ]

I haven't used the app in quite a long time, but it sounds like there's a database of courses on the website now?

Yes: http://easyscorecard.net/index.php/course/index
You need to have the Pro version of the App to download courses from the web to the app.

All user driven data, like DGCR.

 

[ERicJ]

I have 134 rounds in ESC. I have used ESC during a few PDGA sanctioned rounds and compared it to the PDGA SSA. Typically ESC is about 20-25 points higher than PDGA, but not always the case since PDGA SSA is dependent on the propagators performance in that round. I have found to be conservative and subtract 20 points from my ESC rating to come up with a rating closer to a PDGA rating.

I've had official PDGA rounds come in above and below ESC. It's all relative to how well the SSA that you've got in the app is approximating the SSA of the course on the day you play the PDGA event.

The Easy Scorecard estimated scratch is based solely on hole length, so I'd say it's a reeeeaally rough estimate. I used the average of 10 SSAs generated by our weekly tag rounds on days with average conditions - It is always within 20pts off the same tee during sanctioned events.

ESC's default SSA estimate is the standard PDGA estimate, as you said based on length:

(Length / 285) + (#holes * 1.67)

You can do your own estimate by using a number other than 285 from the table below:

FOLIAGE   RANGE(ft)
-------   -------
Pinball   218-234
Tighter   235-251
Corridor  252-264
Woodsy    265-277
Average   278-292
Stands    293-307
Scattered 308-324
Isolated  325-354
None      355-385