top of page
Course Handicaps and Playing Handicaps
Your Handicap Index is based on how your posted scores compare to the Course Rating of the tees you play, adjusted for the Slope Rating of the tees you play.
Your Course Handicap is calculated using your Handicap Index and the Slope Rating of the tees you will play. Then the Course Rating and Par for the tees you will play are used to produce a Course Handicap that will mean that when you play to your handicap, your net score will equal par.
Course Handicap vs Playing Handicap
In Stroke Play, Your Course Handicap is used when your score counts on every hole.
(It could be reduced for events in which 30 or more players compete. Every division in an event is a separate competition, so we are unlikely to ever have 30 or more players in competition.)
In some forms of Stroke Play, you may not have to use all of your hole scores as a partner's net score may be lower and used for the team. Thus your Playing Handicap will be a percentage of your Course Handicap.
In Match Play, the higher handicap side gets strokes equal to the difference between the handicaps of the two sides. This ensures that strokes are given on the holes where they are most needed
For example, if a 1 handicapper plays a 2 handicapper, the stroke is given on the No. 1 handicap hole. The same is true if a 17 handicapper plays against an 18 handicapper.
The information below comes from the USGA website concerning the World Handicap System.
bottom of page