From Handicap Index to strokes received
Your Handicap Index measures your potential on a course of standard difficulty. Before each round, it is converted into a Course Handicap, the number of strokes you receive on the tees you play, and then into a Playing Handicap that accounts for the format of the competition. Since 2020, the World Handicap System (WHS), administered in the United States by the USGA, has used the same method worldwide.
The formulas
- Course Handicap = Handicap Index × (Slope Rating ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par), rounded to the nearest whole number
- Playing Handicap = Course Handicap × handicap allowance, rounded; the USGA recommends applying the allowance to the unrounded Course Handicap
- Score differential = (113 ÷ Slope Rating) × (adjusted gross score − Course Rating − PCC)
- Handicap Index = average of the best 8 of your most recent 20 score differentials
Worked example
A golfer with a 14.2 Index plays tees rated 71.4 with a Slope of 128, on a par-72 course, in an individual stroke play event.
- Course Handicap: 14.2 × 128 ÷ 113 = 16.09, plus (71.4 − 72) = 15.49, rounded to 15.
- Playing Handicap at 95%: 15.49 × 0.95 = 14.71, rounded to 15.
- Playing to handicap means a gross score of about 87.
- If the golfer shoots an adjusted 88: differential = 113 ÷ 128 × (88 − 71.4) = 14.7.
Handicap allowances
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Individual stroke play | 95% |
| Singles match play | 100% |
| Four-ball stroke play | 85% |
| Four-ball match play | 90% of the difference from the lowest |
In match play, the lower player plays off zero and the other receives the difference in Playing Handicaps.
Reading the ratings
- Slope Rating ranges from 55 to 155. 113 is average; a higher Slope means the course is relatively harder for higher handicappers.
- Course Rating is the expected score of a scratch golfer, such as 71.4. It can be above or below par.
- Both are printed on the scorecard and on the board by the first tee, and they differ by tee set and by gender.
Adjusted gross score
For handicap purposes, your score on each hole is capped at net double bogey: par + 2 + any strokes you receive on that hole. This keeps a single disaster from inflating your differential. PCC (Playing Conditions Calculation) adjusts differentials by −1 to +3 when conditions on the day were unusually easy or hard.
Plus handicaps
Very good players have an Index below zero, written with a plus sign, such as +1.2. They give strokes back to the course: a negative Course Handicap means adding strokes to the gross score rather than subtracting them.