How is handicap figured in golf

The need for a handicapping system in golf quickly became apparent soon after the game became standardized in its spiritual home of Scotland. Looking back on the records of the earliest golf games, the golfers of the world turned to handicap as a way of making a level playing field for golfers of different experience and skill levels to compete against each other.

In , the earliest known record of a golfer considering how best to allow all players to play at the same time through the choice of giving them a certain lead. The Edinburgh-based medical student, Thomas Kincaid wrote a diary entry where he considered the popularity of giving a player a specific number of holes as a head start or to provide a player of lower ability a certain number of strokes start compared to another player. Although handicapping as we know it has become a popular way of allowing several players from different skill levels to play together, the term was not used until the s.

The term was used by members of the horse racing community and is thought to have come from a game played in the bars and pubs of the U. The game is thought to have been created to make trading between groups of people with a referee placing their hand inside a cap, into which a buyer would place the money they believed was fair for a purchase. The referee would signal whether they believed the trade was fair using hand signals that would bring about the need for a change in value or allow the trade to take place.

Over the years, the term handicap was born from the pub game to make it easier for everybody to understand. This example assumes only 14 scores have been posted for this golfer. The final step is to calculate a Course Handicap. A Course Handicap is the number of strokes a player receives on each particular course. Determine a course handicap by multiplying the Handicap Index by the Slope Rating from the course and tee you choose and dividing by standard difficulty rating.

Round the result to the nearest whole number. For 9-hole handicaps, you can follow this formula replacing the hole Course Rating with a 9-hole Course Rating. The Slope is the same for 18 and 9 hole calculations. You've now seen how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together for calculating a Handicap Index and Course Handicap. You've picked up or refreshed your memory on some golf handicap terminology. You've noted that none of the calculations is magical, but simple math.

Provide instant access to handicaps and more for your golf group members with Handicap System online service. This will help avoid any confusion and potential awkwardness as the round progresses. If you goal is to break , then a good golf handicap could be a In general, if you can break 90 , that is a good standard of golf. If you can break 90, you can play with basically any golfer out there and not slow them down. Remember, having golf goals can really help improve your game.

By adding some clarity around your goals, this should help you accomplish them. Check out our guide to breaking 80 here. So start there and work your way to breaking Secondly, they will help monitor your progress. By logging your rounds into the system, you can figure notice trends in your game.

Like anything, the more you measure it, the easier it is to manage it. Yes, this is why I recommend waiting until you can break or so before getting started. The USGA handicap system has maximum golf handicap for a male golfer of The current maximum golf handicap for a female golfer under the USGA system is currently The USGA updates your handicap every two weeks on the 1st and the 15th. Make sure that you are adding in scores that are legit as often as possible.

The deadline is midnight on the last day of the month and the 14th to have them applied to your handicap the following day. Each role is ranked from on the scorecard. One is the hardest, most difficult hole while 18 is the easiest. So if you changed cards or forgot to renew, you can log back on and sign up again. This will allow you to keep all of your scores and once active, you can post again. When playing, make sure you finish the hole, regardless of the score.

Once the round is over, then you can adjust accordingly. But if you are playing winter rules with lift, clean, and place, usually scores are not accepted.

The course rating is the score that a scratch golfer would be expected to post at that course. The slope rating measures the relative difficulty of the golf course, taking into account features of the course that may be harder to overcome for a novice golfer than they would be for a more skilled golfer. The course ratings are used to adjust the golfer's recorded score to reflect the difficulty of that particular course.

First, subtract the course rating from the score and multiply the difference by Divide that result by the slope rating of the golf course to determine that round's handicap differential.

List all of your handicap differentials in order from lowest to highest. Use the handicap calculation table listed in the Resources section to look up the number of differentials to include in your calculation.

If you have five or six recorded scores available, only the lowest differential may be used. The allowable number of differentials increases as you record more scores.