Frequently Asked Questions

Golf TotalGuide was built by a team of golfers and engineers who got tired of generic "top 10" lists and wanted recommendations grounded in real course data. We combine USGS LiDAR (for terrain, tree canopy, hazard detection), simulator-driven shot modeling, and verified golfer reviews to match real players to real courses. Based in Massachusetts, we currently focus on courses in MA, RI, NH, and VT, with more regions coming. Edit this section in the admin UI at /faqs to add your own story.

Type a location into the chat (e.g. "courses near Wayland, MA" or "courses within 25 miles of Boston") and the assistant returns the nearest matches with distance, slope rating, par, and price. You can also visit the browse page and filter by city, holes, course type, and amenities.

Yes — searching, browsing, and using the chat assistant is free. You can also take the golfer quiz and save courses to a trip list at no cost. We may add premium features in the future (e.g. detailed course analysis), but core discovery will remain free.

LiDAR is laser-based aerial scanning that produces high-resolution elevation models (down to 1 meter). We use USGS 3DEP LiDAR to extract every course's terrain, tree canopy, bunker depths, water features, and dogleg angles directly from the data — not from someone's subjective scorecard description. That's how we get accurate elevation change, walkability scores, and forced-carry counts that match what you actually experience on the course.

Our difficulty score (0–100) blends six intrinsic course attributes: average landing-zone safety percentage (35%), elevation change (15%), extreme-terrain holes (10%), forced carries (15%), bunker count (15%), and tree coverage (10%). It's not derived from how badly an average golfer scored — that varies by skill — so the score reflects the COURSE, not the players. Easy is < 30, Moderate 30–64, Hard 65+.

Slope rating measures how much harder a course plays for a bogey golfer (around 20 handicap) than for a scratch golfer. The USGA scale runs 55 (easiest) to 155 (hardest), with 113 as the average. Higher slope means the course punishes mistakes more — narrow corridors, lots of hazards, or tough greens magnify the gap between good and average golfers. See our full breakdown in Course Rating vs. Slope Rating.

Course rating is what a SCRATCH golfer is expected to shoot from a given set of tees (e.g. 71.9 means a scratch player averages 71.9 on that course). Slope rating measures how much harder the course plays for a BOGEY golfer relative to that scratch baseline. Both numbers come from USGA-trained raters and are required to compute a handicap-adjusted score.

We score walkability 0–5 based on total elevation change across the routing, average elevation per hole, distance between green and next tee, and overall course length. A 5 is a flat, compact course you can walk in three hours; a 1 is a hilly, sprawling layout that's much easier with a cart. The score is computed from LiDAR — no editorial guess.

The quiz is 17 questions covering your skill level, driving distance, shot shape, miss tendency, risk tolerance, and preferences for things like walkability, pricing, and conditions. Your answers map you to one of 336 golfer profiles. Each course in our system has been simulated against all 336 profiles, so we can match you to courses where players like you tend to score well and have fun. Start it any time by saying "Start quiz" in the chat.

The match percentage is how well a course's playing characteristics align with your quiz preferences across 21 dimensions (forgiveness, distance fit, miss tolerance, green difficulty, strategic complexity, conditions, and more). 92%+ is a High match, 85–91% is Good, 75–84% is Moderate, 60–74% is Fair, below 60% is Low. The label appears next to each course in chat results and on every course detail page.

On the course detail page, the "Reasons to play" and "Tradeoffs" lists are personalized to YOUR quiz profile. Pros highlight where the course's design fits your game (e.g. "great landing zones for your distance", "forgiving of your right miss"). Tradeoffs flag where it might frustrate you (e.g. "54 bunkers — precision rewarded", "slope 131 — a meaningful test"). They're computed from the same 21D dimensions as the match percentage.

Yes. Your match results stay tied to your latest quiz, so retaking it overwrites the old profile. The chat will warn you before starting a new quiz if you've already completed one. Tweak it any time you want recommendations to reflect a change in your game.

Open the trip planner sidebar from the chat, then drag courses, restaurants, hotels, or articles onto your trip. The chat assistant can suggest restaurants and hotels near any course you're considering. Once your trip is built, save it to your account and share the link with playing partners.

We show typical 18-hole and 9-hole rates pulled from each course's website. We don't book tee times directly — clicking a course's "Book tee time" button takes you to the course's official booking page so you can lock in your time on their preferred system.

You can chat, browse, and run searches without an account. To save your quiz results, build a trip plan, leave course reviews, or get personalized match percentages, you'll need to sign in. Sign in is free — we use Auth0 for secure email/password and social login.

Your quiz answers and saved trips are tied to your account and only used to personalize recommendations. We don't sell your data. Chat conversations may be stored to improve the assistant — you can request deletion any time at support@totalguide.net. See our privacy policy for details.

Yes. Signed-in users can rate any course on six categories (conditions, greens, layout, pace, value, walkability) and leave a written review. Reviews are moderated to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high.