Ranking Methodology: How We Score
How our rankings work: the criteria, the panel, the scoring and the rules on hosted visits. Published in full, because trust is the product.
The AGR Score
Every course we review receives an AGR Score out of 10, built from four weighted components: Design (35%) for routing, variety, strategic interest and use of the land; Conditioning (25%) for turf quality, greens and bunkering as found on the days we played; Experience & service (20%) for caddies, pace, practice facilities and the clubhouse; and Value for money (20%) for the whole of the above, measured against what a visitor actually pays.
Scores are based on on-site play, never on brochures or reputation. Where conditions vary by season, we say when we played. Scores are reviewed annually and re-scored after any major renovation.
The panel
Rankings are compiled from the scores of our editors and a named review panel across the region’s golf destinations, listed on The Team & Review Panel. Panellists score to this methodology, disclose any connection to a course they rate, and are recused where a conflict exists. No panellist scores a course they have a commercial relationship with.
Hosted visits
When a visit is hosted by a course, resort or tourism board, the review discloses it in a standing line: “AGR played as a guest of the host.” Hosts never see reviews before publication, never approve a score, and hosting never changes one. A course that hosts us buys our attention for a day, not our opinion.
What is never for sale
No payment, at any price, buys a review, a score, a place in a ranking or an award result. Advertising and commercial partnerships are handled by a separate team and have no bearing on rankings. Courses may correct facts before publication, among them fees, yardages and policies, but not verdicts.
Corrections and challenges
If a club believes a fact in its review or ranking entry is wrong, write to editor@asiagolfreview.com with the detail; corrections are read first and answered by an editor.
Where the scores are today
AsiaGolfReview is a new publication and our review panel is being assembled. Until a course has been played by the panel, it appears here as a course profile: the verifiable facts, with no score attached. Scored reviews and the first Asia Top 100 follow once panel play is complete; we would rather publish no number than a number nobody earned on the course.