Understanding Your Golf Handicap
A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's potential playing ability. It's used to allow players of different skill levels to compete against each other on an equitable basis. The lower the handicap, the better the golfer. The World Handicap System (WHS) is the modern standard used globally.
Key Terms
- Score: The total number of strokes taken to complete an 18-hole round.
- Course Rating: The score a "scratch golfer" (a player with a 0 handicap) is expected to shoot on a particular course. It reflects the course's difficulty.
- Slope Rating: A measure of the relative difficulty of a course for a "bogey golfer" (a player with about an 18 handicap) compared to a scratch golfer. The average slope is 113.
The Handicap Calculation
The calculation involves two main steps:
- Calculate the Handicap Differential for each round: This value represents your performance in a single round, adjusted for the course's difficulty. The formula is:
(Score - Course Rating) × 113 / Slope Rating
- Calculate the Handicap Index: The WHS takes an average of the best 8 Handicap Differentials from your most recent 20 rounds. If you have fewer than 20 rounds, a specific number of best differentials are used (our calculator handles this adjustment). The result is your Handicap Index.
Playing Handicap: Your Handicap Index is not usually the number of strokes you get on the course. Before playing, you convert your Index into a "Playing Handicap" for that specific set of tees using the formula: `Handicap Index × (Slope Rating / 113)`. This adjusts your handicap for the difficulty of the course you're playing that day.