The PGA Playing Ability Test target is the course rating, doubled, decimal dropped, plus fifteen. Simple, and people still get it wrong by a stroke every month. Here's the formula, the trap, and the number you should actually be playing to.
The formula
Take the USGA course rating for the tees you're playing. Double it. Throw away everything after the decimal point. Add fifteen. A 70.6 rating: 141.2 becomes 141, plus 15 is 156 for 36 holes. Shoot 156 or better and you've passed.
Drop, don't round. 141.8 also becomes 141. People round up, play to a number one higher than the real target, and fail by exactly the stroke they rounded. Confirm the number on the board at check-in; the examiner's number is the one that counts.
The bogey budget nobody tells you
The fifteen is added to twice the rating, not twice par, and most PAT courses are rated a stroke or two under par. So your real cushion over par is the target minus par for 36 holes. On a par-72 with a 156 target that's twelve, not fifteen. Twelve bogeys and no birdies over 36 holes is 78-78, and you pass on the number. Thirteen and you don't.
That number, twelve or thirteen on most courses, is what the whole day is built around. You don't need birdies. You need a card with no doubles on it, twice.
Why good players fail it anyway
Fewer than three in ten pass on a given day, and most of them are good golfers. They play the PAT like a tournament, chasing pins and going at par, and the PAT isn't a tournament. It's a test with a number, and the number doesn't care about your birdies. It only takes things away for the big numbers.
I failed mine as a scratch golfer, by eight. Seventeen days later I passed by sixteen with the same swing and a plan. The plan is in Pass the PAT: First Try, there's a free target calculator at passthepat.com, and if you'd rather do the six weeks in person, that's here, with $350 back if you don't pass your first try.
Questions people ask
What if the course rating has changed?
The host Section uses the current rating for the tees in play. Ask the host pro before the day, then confirm on the board.
What's the half-pass?
Under current PGA policy an 18-hole score at or under the 18-hole target can be combined with another from a different PAT within a window. Confirm the details with the National Office before you count on it.
How many times can I take the PAT?
Twice a year is the general rule, and a withdrawal or no-show costs you a 90-day suspension. Prepare for the one you've booked.
