Golf Handicap Calculator

1. Enter your adjusted gross score for the round.
2. Enter the course rating for the tees you played.
3. Enter the slope rating, or leave 113 for standard difficulty.
4. Read your score differential and estimated handicap index.

A golf handicap is a number that measures a players ability so that golfers of different standards can compete fairly. Under the World Handicap System, your handicap index is the average of the best eight score differentials from your most recent twenty rounds, which lets a higher handicapper receive strokes against a lower one.

Each round produces one score differential, the building block of the index. This calculator works out that differential and estimates the index a typical round like it would produce.

1. Subtract the course rating from your adjusted gross score.
2. Multiply by 113, the standard slope, to normalise for difficulty.
3. Divide by the course slope rating.
4. Average your best eight differentials from the last twenty rounds for your official index.

The slope rating matters: the same score on a harder course, with a higher slope, produces a lower differential, because the round was tougher.

You shoot 90 on a course rated 72.0 with a slope of 113. The differential is (90 minus 72) times 113 divided by 113, which is 18.0. If your recent rounds are similar, your handicap index is about 18. Shoot the same 90 on a harder course with a slope of 125 and the differential drops to 16.3, because the course was more difficult.

Consistency

Because only your best eight rounds count, steady scoring lowers your index faster than the occasional great round among poor ones.

Course and Slope Rating

Playing harder courses, with higher ratings and slopes, protects your differential when you score higher than usual.

Adjusted Gross Score

The system caps the strokes counted on any hole, so one disaster hole does not wreck your handicap.

Typical Handicap Ranges

Most amateur men carry a handicap in the mid-teens and most amateur women in the mid-twenties, while a single-figure handicap marks a strong club golfer. A handicap of zero is called scratch, and a player who regularly beats the course rating holds a plus handicap. Knowing where your differential sits in these ranges tells you at a glance whether a round was a personal best, an average outing or one to forget, and it sets a realistic target for the improvement you chase next season.

These two numbers are related but used differently.

Course handicap equals your index times the slope divided by 113, so a harder course gives you more strokes.

Tracking Progress

Check the differential after each round to see whether your game is improving.

Before a Competition

Estimate the strokes you will give or receive against other players.

New to Handicapping

See how the score, rating and slope combine before you join a formal system.

1. Using Par Instead of Course Rating

The differential uses the course rating, which can differ from par by a stroke or two.

2. Ignoring Slope

Leaving slope at 113 on a much harder course overstates your handicap.

3. Counting Every Stroke on a Bad Hole

Use the adjusted gross score, which caps strokes per hole.

4. Judging from One Round

Your true index needs several rounds; a single score is only an estimate.

The differential follows the World Handicap System formula exactly. The index shown assumes the round is typical, since the official figure needs your last twenty rounds.

Each round gives a score differential of (score minus course rating) times 113 divided by slope. Your handicap index is the average of your best eight differentials from your last twenty rounds.

A handicap under 10 is strong, 10 to 20 is average for regular players, and above 20 is common for beginners and casual golfers.

Slope rating measures how much harder a course plays for a bogey golfer than a scratch golfer, from 55 to 155, with 113 being standard difficulty.

An official index needs several rounds, ideally twenty, but a single round gives a useful differential and a rough estimate.

Par is the target score set by the course, while course rating is the expected score of a scratch golfer, and the two can differ by a stroke or two.

Yes. A very strong golfer who scores below the course rating has a plus handicap, shown here as a negative differential.

Course handicap is your index adjusted for a specific course, equal to your index times the slope divided by 113, giving the strokes you receive that day.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• The World Handicap System (Wikipedia).
• How golf handicaps work (Wikipedia).
• Slope rating explained (Wikipedia).