◆ FAQ: Course & Layout Difficulty

Audience: All users | Level: Beginner to Intermediate

UDisc assigns difficulty levels to Smart Layouts based on distance and technicality derived from actual scoring data. Layouts need 10-20 rounds played by unique players with UDisc accounts before receiving a difficulty classification. Only layouts with difficulty classifications can generate round ratings.

Difficulty classifications serve two important purposes:

Without a difficulty classification, players won't receive round ratings when they play that layout.

UDisc uses 4 difficulty levels for course layouts:

Each layout's difficulty is determined by combining two factors: distance and technicality.

Distance is based on a layout's average hole length. Par is not considered.

Layouts are classified into one of five distance categories:

Important: Distance classifications are relative, not fixed thresholds. Your layout is compared to all layouts in the UDisc database worldwide. The length thresholds shown in our August 2023 blog post were accurate at the time of launch, but these cutoffs are not fixed values. As new courses are added and the dataset evolves, the cutoff values can shift slightly to maintain consistent percentages in each category.

Technicality measures how difficult holes are to score well on relative to their distance.

UDisc analyzes scoring results compared to hole distance. Holes that tend to score higher than other holes of similar length are considered more technical. Factors that increase technicality might include:

A layout's overall technicality is the average technicality of all its holes.

Layouts fall into one of three technicality categories:

UDisc combines distance and technicality to create four overall difficulty levels:

🟢 Easy (green circle)

🟦 Moderate (blue square)

◆ Challenging (gray diamond)

◆◆ Very Challenging (double black diamond)

You can see your layout's difficulty level displayed in the course directory and on the layout details page.

If you see Difficulty pending on a layout, it means UDisc needs more scoring data before it can determine the layout's difficulty classification.

What's required: Each fairway (tee to basket combination) needs 10-20 rounds played by unique players with UDisc accounts. Guest players on someone's device do not count toward this threshold.

How long does this take? Once a layout reaches the required number of plays, difficulty classifications are updated twice per month (typically at the beginning and middle of the month).

Until difficulty is assigned:

There are two possible reasons:

Only Smart Layouts can receive difficulty classifications and generate round ratings. If your course uses Classic Layouts, a Course Ambassador needs to convert them to Smart Layouts.

Learn how to upgrade Classic Layouts to Smart Layouts.

If you have a Smart Layout that shows "Difficulty pending," it simply needs more rounds played by unique players.

For multi-layout courses: Each fairway is evaluated independently based on the total plays it receives across all layouts. If your course has a 9-hole layout and an 18-hole layout that uses the same first 9 holes, plays on the 9-hole layout contribute data for those same fairways on the 18-hole layout.

How to help:

No. Difficulty and distance classifications are based entirely on scoring data from actual rounds played in UDisc. Course Ambassadors cannot manually assign or change a layout's difficulty.

This ensures difficulty ratings remain objective and reflect real player performance rather than subjective assessments.

Difficulty classifications can shift over time as:

Why distance thresholds aren't fixed: The distance cutoffs shown in UDisc's August 2023 blog post were accurate at launch, but these values aren't permanent.

Distance classifications ensure a consistent percentage of layouts fall into each bucket worldwide. As thousands of new courses are added to UDisc, the actual distance that defines "Long" vs "Very long" can shift slightly.

Your layout is always classified based on its position within the current, complete dataset of all layouts worldwide, not a fixed yardage threshold.

Each individual fairway (tee to basket combination) needs 10-20 rounds played by unique players with UDisc accounts. Guest players don't count toward this total.

If multiple holes play to the same basket position but from different tees, each fairway is evaluated separately. The scoring data accounts for the different starting positions.

Smart Layouts allow multiple tee and basket positions. Each unique tee-to-basket combination is its own fairway and needs its own scoring data.

The layout's difficulty is based on the specific tee and basket positions included in that Smart Layout configuration.

Difficulty classifications help players:

Yes! Difficulty classifications are visible to all UDisc users when browsing the course directory, regardless of whether you have UDisc Pro or have played the course.

Round ratings:

Smart Layouts:

Course Ambassador guides:

Troubleshooting:

Category: Using UDisc → The Course Directory
​Last updated: January 2026
​Topics covered: Course difficulty, layout difficulty, distance classification, technicality, difficulty pending, Smart Layouts, round ratings, par rating
​Related to: Round ratings, Smart Layouts, Course Ambassadors
​Related features: Round ratings, player ratings, course directory, Smart Layouts