How is handicap in golf calculated

Before , golf handicaps were created using a simple calculation requiring at least five scores to be posted with the USGA. The overall handicap of a golfer is something that is often seen as a mystery to many, particularly since the U.

The need for a handicapping system in golf quickly became apparent soon after the game became standardized in its spiritual home of Scotland. Looking back on the records of the earliest golf games, the golfers of the world turned to handicap as a way of making a level playing field for golfers of different experience and skill levels to compete against each other. In , the earliest known record of a golfer considering how best to allow all players to play at the same time through the choice of giving them a certain lead.

The Edinburgh-based medical student, Thomas Kincaid wrote a diary entry where he considered the popularity of giving a player a specific number of holes as a head start or to provide a player of lower ability a certain number of strokes start compared to another player.

Although handicapping as we know it has become a popular way of allowing several players from different skill levels to play together, the term was not used until the s.

The term was used by members of the horse racing community and is thought to have come from a game played in the bars and pubs of the U. The game is thought to have been created to make trading between groups of people with a referee placing their hand inside a cap, into which a buyer would place the money they believed was fair for a purchase. The referee would signal whether they believed the trade was fair using hand signals that would bring about the need for a change in value or allow the trade to take place.

Over the years, the term handicap was born from the pub game to make it easier for everybody to understand. By , the USGA had begun using its own rudimentary handicap system that would eventually become the system used until December 31, before being replaced by the World Handicap System.

It is calculated by averaging the best 8 score differentials out of the most recent 20 within your scoring record. Can be made up of both competition and general play scores.

If your record does not have 20 scores on it already, a modified calculation will be carried out to provide you with a Handicap Index.

The below table highlights how this will be done:. Handicaps allow players to compete and win against more talented golfers based on how they each played that day.

For example, let us say you and a friend are going to play a hole course with a par of Your friend, with a golf handicap of six, is expected to play 78 strokes, or six over par.

While you and your twelve handicap are expected to hit 84 strokes, 12 more over par. Your handicap, in short, is the number of strokes over par you should take in the course of the hole round. If you have never played golf, your golf handicap does not exist. When you are ready to create your golf handicap, start by tracking your 9 and hole scores. The scores should be recorded in a scorecard and must be signed by two people: you and the partner accompanying you to the golf game.

The signatures are needed to minimize corruption and make your scores real and valid. As of January , you must submit three holes scores to obtain a handicap index. This can be made from a combination of 9-hole and hole rounds; the handicap index will be revised at the beginning and mid of every month 1st and 15th.

This change requires that you submit only three hole scores. The revision to your handicap will be done daily as long as you update your third hole scores before midnight. Notice the changes; the new formula includes course rating minus par. These changes were done to accommodate players who play from different tees. Because they are playing with different benchmarks, there is a need to make handicapping more fair. The changes introduce new rules of handicapping, and it represents the strokes players receive in a competition.

Therefore, the new formula for playing handicaps is the course handicap X handicap allowance. This new change introduces two new rules for handicapping that are: you will be allowed to use course handicaps to adjust your scores, and secondly, playing handicaps will be used for net competition purposes.

There are several apps or programs you can sign up for that will calculate your handicap for you, but if you like to do things the old fashion way, here is a complete breakdown in calculating your own course handicap.