Golf is a game of skill, patience, and strategy. As you begin your golfing journey, understanding and calculating your golf handicap is crucial. It’s not just about keeping score; it’s about gauging your skill level, tracking your progress, and setting goals for improvement.
For example, if you have a handicap of 20 and you shoot a 89 on a par 72 course, your adjusted score would be: 89 − 20 = 69
This means you played three strokes under par, effectively scoring -3 for the day. This is a great sign that your golf game is moving in the right directions & most likely means your handicap will be getting lower!
In this article, we'll break down the basics of calculating your golf handicap in a straightforward way and provide a handy calculator at the end to make things even easier.
Basic Terms You Need to Know
Score: The number of strokes you take to complete a round.
Course Rating: A number (typically between 67 and 77) that indicates the difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer (a golfer with a handicap of 0).
Slope Rating: A number (between 55 and 155) that indicates the difficulty of a course for a bogey golfer (a golfer with a handicap of 20 for men and 24 for women).
Steps to Calculate Your Golf Handicap
1. Caluculate Your Differential for Each Round. Differential is number of strokes subtracted from your final score to bring you back to par for the course:
After every round, use the following formula to find your differential for the course.
STEP 1 - (Total Strokes - Course Rating) X 113
STEP 2 - Divide Step 1 Results by Course Slope Rating
STEP 3 - Recieve Adjusted Score for that Round
Example:
(85 Strokes - 72 Course Rating) X 113= 1,469
1,469 / 124 Slope Rating = 11.84 (Your Differential for the Round)
This formula may seem complex, but don’t worry the calculator at the end of this article will do all the math for you.
2. Record Your Scores:
Keep track of your scores from multiple rounds of golf. The more rounds you record, the more accurate your handicap will be. It's recommended to have at least 5 rounds, but 20 is ideal.
3. Select the Lowest Adjusted Scores from those Rounds:
To determine how many scores to use, we've put together this helpful chart.
Once you've played 20 rounds (very jealous), continue to add new scores by replacing the oldest score with the newest one to keep your handicap index accurate. This ensures your handicap reflects your most recent performance.
4. Calculate the Average of Your Lowest Differentials. Example Below
10 of the Best Differential Rounds Played in the Last 20 for Annoymous Golfer (Totally not me...)
(40 + 42 + 42 + 40 + 38 + 41 + 41 + 44 + 42 + 40) / 10 = 41
5. Multiply Average by 0.96 to Find Your Current Handicap. This is called "bonus for excellence" & it is designed to give a slight edge to lower handicap players and an incentive for players to play better.
41 × 0.96 = 39.36 (Your Current Handicap)
This means that player with a 39.36 Handicap should shoot about 111 for a par 72 course of average difficulty.
Now that you have your number, you'll be able to compete against golfers of varying skill levels to make it an even playing field. But more importantly, it helps you understand where you stand and how you can improve over time.
Use the Golf Handicap Calculator
To make things easier, you can use the calculator below to compute your handicap index automatically. Just input your scores, course ratings, and slope ratings from your recent rounds of golf.
What Does Your Handicap Mean?
Now that you've calculated your handicap, you might be curious about how it measures up. Is your handicap good, mid, or high? Your handicap index can give you valuable insights into your game and help you set realistic goals for improvement.
Remember, the goal is to enjoy the game and continuously improve. Tracking your handicap is a great way to monitor your progress and set new personal goals.
As always - Low Scores & High Spirits 🤙
Comments