A golf course can receive up to 1000 points. This total is based on the results of five categories with 40 different weighted factors (questions). About 65% of the overall rating score is from objective factors that cover: on-course details, the clubhouse, check-in procedures, online reservations, discounts, public areas, on-course amenities, practice facilities, lessons, food options, etc. The remaining 35% of the scoring is from subjective factors such as: friendliness, customer service, hospitality, food quality, walkability, ease-of-use, etc.
The course rating system is broken into five main categories as listed below:
FACILITY: What are the overall conditions of the clubhouse, golf course, off-course amenities, carts, food?
USABILITY: Are on-course and off-course areas easy to use, get around and play?
PLAYABILITY: Is this a course that is suitable for a 20+ handicap golfer?
HOSPITALITY: How is the professionalism of the staff, the quality and speed of service?
VALUE: Do the costs compare favorably for what you get and is the experience worth what you paid?
Each question and rating category is based on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best). To assist course reviewers, answers are provided for each question, but are only meant to act as a guide. 
The Hacker's Rating System does not tell the writers what to score, just what they should consider when deciding on a score. The system leaves it up to the reviewer to make a judgment based on what they see. They also have the flexibility within the Hacker Rating System to score using ½ points if they feel that the course falls between two numbers.
All of the questions should be answered how a 20-handicapper (a “hacker”) would experience and play the course, not how someone that shoots par would experience it.
We think that the depth our writers are required to go when assessing a golf course goes far beyond what current guides on golf provide. We believe that the quality of our reviews are similar to the Berlitz Guide to Cruise Ships, where Douglas Ward, the creator and writer of this guide in its 23nd year is very particular about details: cleanliness, friendliness, design, and his guide has been accepted as an authority when it comes to the cruise industry. It is considered the Cadillac of cruise ship guides.
We hope to make the Hacker's Guides the same for golf courses.
