Convert a handicap index into the strokes you get on a course, or enter your recent scores to find your handicap index.
Find how many strokes you receive on a particular course from your handicap index and the course's rating, slope and par.
Enter the data from at least 54 holes, which is 3 rounds of 18 holes. For each round, give either an 18-hole score or a 9-hole score, not both. The playing condition adjustment is optional, a whole number from -1 to 3. A blank row is skipped.
A golf handicap measures a golfer's potential, so that players of different ability can compete fairly. The lower the handicap, the better the golfer. A scratch golfer has a handicap of zero, and a bogey golfer has a handicap of about 18. Handicaps are common in amateur golf and are not used in professional golf. A handicap is not fixed, and it is updated as new scores come in.
The course rating, usually between 67 and 77, is the score a scratch golfer is expected to shoot on that course. The slope rating, from 55 to 155 with 113 as the average, measures how much harder the course is for a bogey golfer than for a scratch golfer. Par is the number of strokes an expert is expected to need. These come from the scorecard of a rated course.
Your handicap index travels with you, and the course handicap says how many strokes you receive on a given course. It is the index times the slope divided by 113, plus the course rating minus par, rounded to a whole number. With an index of 10 on a course rated 70 with slope 121 and par 72, that is 10 × 121 ÷ 113 + (70 − 72), which is 8.7, so you receive 9 strokes. Take it off your gross score to get your net score.
Each round gives a score differential: 113 ÷ slope × (score − course rating − playing condition adjustment). With 3 to 5 rounds, your index is based on the lowest differential, less 2 with 3 rounds and less 1 with 4. With 6 rounds it is the average of the lowest 2, less 1. From 7 rounds it is the average of the best differentials, from 2 of 7 up to 8 of 20. Two 9-hole rounds are combined into one 18-hole round by adding their differentials, and the playing condition adjustment, from -1 to 3, allows for weather and course conditions that day. For a 9-hole round, only half of the adjustment is used.
Multiply your handicap index by the slope rating, divide by 113, then add the course rating and subtract par. Round to the nearest whole number.
You need scores from at least 54 holes, such as three rounds of 18 holes. Two 9-hole rounds count as one 18-hole round.
It is a score adjusted for the difficulty of the course: 113 divided by the slope, times the score minus the course rating minus any playing condition adjustment.
A whole number from -1 to 3 that corrects for weather or course conditions that day. Use -1 when conditions made scoring easier and up to 3 when they made it much harder.
The average handicap index is around 14 for men and 27 for women. A handicap under 10 is considered good, and a scratch golfer has a handicap of 0.
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