Trygve Bogevold 

Do you recognize this man and how he changed a part of our lives?

Meet Trygve (trig-vah) Bogevold. Not only is Trygve one of the charter members of the USGA Handicap Research Team (HRT), but he is also the great-uncle of Dr. Eric Barton, a member of Salishan Golf Links. But enough about Doc.

In May 1978, Dr. Richard Stroud, a consulting member of the Handicap Procedure Committee, wrote a letter to Gordon Ewen, the Committee's Chairman, proposing the concepts of the Slope System. In discussing a 1971 proposal by Dr. Clyne Soley and Trygve Bogevold for a slope-like approach to handicapping, Stroud wrote, "It should be emphasized that the proposed scheme for selecting course-difficulty parameters is based on length alone. There is a significant chance some more sophisticated methods will prove necessary; i.e., the Knuth method for refining course ratings and a similar procedure for predicting slope." This proved to be the case, and course rating was initiated in 1981.

In 1979, the USGA formed the HRT and also invited Dean Knuth (The Pope of Slope), Dr. Lou Riccio, Dr. Fran Scheid, Lynn Smith, Dr. Clyne Soley, Dr. Richard Stroud, and Frank Thomas. The team researched and refined many aspects of the handicap procedure, including course rating. The concepts of expert and bogey ratings emerged. The present USGA Course Rating System, which includes Bogey Rating and Slope Rating, was developed and tested by Knuth. (1.)