Golf Handicap Calculator
Calculate your golf handicap for any course and determine your handicap index
Golf Handicap Calculator
A golf handicap is intended as a measure of a golfer's potential playing ability. Calculate your handicap for a specific course or determine your handicap index from playing data.
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đī¸ Handicap of Course Calculator
Use this calculator to find out the handicap of a golfer for a specific course.
đ Result
Note: This calculation shows the number of strokes you should receive on this specific course based on your handicap index.
đ Index of Handicap Calculator
Use this calculator to compute the index of handicap for a golfer given data from at least 54 holes (3 rounds of 18-holes) of playing data. When filling the form, please provide either an 18-hole or 9-hole score. Do not provide both. The playing condition adjustment is an optional value between -1 and 3. If left blank, it will be treated as 0.
đ Understanding Golf Handicaps
Course Rating & Slope
In the United States, officially rated golf courses are described by course and rating of slope. Rating of course is a number (typically between 67 and 77) that is used to measure the average "good" score that a scratch golfer may attain on the course.
Handicap of Course
A handicap of course indicates the number of strokes that a golfer receives at a particular golf course. It can be thought of as an adjustment to a golfer's handicap that takes the difficulty of a golf course into account.
Playing Condition Adjustment
Since golf is a game that is played outdoors, weather or other conditions can significantly affect a player's scores. The Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) ranges from -1 to 3, depending on the conditions of the course for the given day.
What is a Golf Handicap?
A golf handicap is intended as a measure of a golfer's potential playing ability. The higher the handicap of a golfer, the poorer the golfer's ability relative to that of a person with a lower handicap.
In terms of stroke play (a scoring system involving counting the total number of strokes a golfer takes on each hole during a given round), a more skilled golfer gives the less experienced player a "handicap" in which extra strokes are added to his or her score. The player that has the fewest strokes at the end of the round is the winner. A handicap theoretically allows players of differing ability levels to play together on more equal grounds.
Key Terms
- Scratch golfer: A golfer whose handicap is zero
- Bogey golfer: A golfer whose handicap is approximately 18
- Slope rating: A number (typically between 55 and 155) describing the relative difficulty of a course for a bogey golfer compared to a scratch golfer
- Course rating: The expected score for a scratch golfer under normal course and weather conditions
The term "handicapping" originated in horse racing, where a jockey was handed his odds for the race in a cap (hand-in-cap). The concept, however, existed long before the term was coined. Even in the early days of the sport, the act of allowing strokes in golf was called "assigning the odds."