What is a golf handicap?
A golf handicap is a number that is used to make the competition between players of differing skill levels more even. The number essentially measures a player’s average strokes over par per round, though that number is calculated by a more complicated formula. A golf handicap of 10 means a golfer typically averages about 10 strokes over par per 18-hole round of golf. The lower the number, the better the golfer. A “scratch” golfer is one with a golf handicap of 0 or better. When two golfers with different handicaps play together, the handicaps are used to even the playing field. If a person with a golf handicap of 2 plays against someone with a golf handicap of 10, the first person cuts two strokes off his or her score final score, while the second person cuts 10 strokes off his or her final score. The scores are then compared to see who won. For a golf handicap to be official, it typically has to be obtained through an organization like the United States Golf Association (USGA). The fo
A handicap is calculated with a specific arithmetic formula that says, approximately, how much worse than par a player should be able to play. The United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Clubs of St. Andrews, Scotland, specify slightly different ways to perform this calculation for players in North America and in the rest of the world, respectively. A golfer’s net score is determined from his or her gross score (the number of strokes actually taken) by subtracting his or her handicap from the gross score. The net scores of all the competing golfers are compared and (generally) the lowest score wins. While there are many variations in detail, handicap systems are generally based on calculating an individual player’s playing ability from his or her recent history of rounds. Therefore, a handicap is not fixed, but is regularly adjusted to increases or decreases in a player’s scoring. In the United States, handicaps are calculated using several variables: The player’s
Quite simply, handicap is how many strokes you should get to shoot par…. So, if say your handicap is 5 and par is 72, that means on average you are shooting around 77. It is more complicated than that, taking into account courses slope/rating, etc. But you just submit all your scores and after you have about 6 scores they calculate your handicap from average of scores.
