Golf handicap (1 Viewer)

[MikeFR]

Just wondering if anyone feels like explaining how golf handicap is calculated and how it is applied.

Thanks

 

[Jeremiah]

The most basic explanation is the handicap is what you consistanly shoot over Par. If you shoot about 80 your handicap is 8 since Par is roughly 72. Mine is about 25.lol.

I think they take 10 rounds and discard the best and worst than average the others together; not sure though.

 

[Denward]

It actually gets more complicated than that because you have to take into account the rated difficulty of the courses you play. I'll let someone else handle the details.

Here's a free handicap tracker that I use. I think you have to be a registered Yahoo member to record your scores.
http://golf.sports.yahoo.com/tracker

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

Essentially what everyone else has said.
It depends on your score relative to par, and the course's slope (difficulty)

We should have a high handicap/regular golfer contest. I'd be up there with about a 20.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

This is from the United States Golf Association website.

A USGA Handicap Index compares a player’s scoring ability to the scoring ability of an expert amateur on a course of standard difficulty. A player posts scores along with the appropriate USGA Ratings to make up the scoring record. A Handicap Index is computed from no more than 20 scores plus eligible Tournament Scores in the scoring record. It reflects the player’s potential because it is based upon the best scores posted for a given number of rounds, ideally the best 10 of the last 20 rounds.

A USGA Handicap Index travels well from course to course, as well as from one set of tees to another set of tees on the same course. A player’s Handicap Index determines the number of strokes a player receives depending upon the length and difficulty of the course being played.

A USGA Course Rating ™ is the USGA’s mark that indicates the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal conditions based on yardage and other obstacles that affect scoring ability. A USGA Slope Rating ™ is an evaluation of how much more difficult the course plays for individuals who are not scratch golfers. Each course is rated from each set of tees for both the scratch golfer and the bogey golfer. The Course Rating reflects the difficulty of the course for the scratch golfer. The Course Rating and Slope Rating together reflect the difficulty of the course for players who are not scratch golfers. The greater the difference between the scores of the scratch and bogey golfers on a certain course, the higher the USGA Slope Rating will be and the more strokes golfers will receive. Conversely, the less the difference, the lower the USGA Slope Rating will be—and the fewer strokes golfers will receive.

A player locates his USGA Handicap Index on the appropriate Course Handicap Table and finds the corresponding Course Handicap. Course Handicap Tables are posted in the clubhouse or near the first tee. There will be a Course Handicap Table for each set of tees used by men and by women. The number of strokes a player receives (Course Handicap) is based upon the relative difficulty (Slope Rating) of the course.

If you want more information, see the following USGA link:

http://www.usga.org/handicap/manual/...ual/index.html

 

[Mike Knapp]

I have a 14 now but was a 9 in my heyday.

I assure you that whatever your handicap is, you will shoot well over it in competition!

Mike

 

[MikeFR]

Thanks guys, I will try and figure out what my handicap is this year. Already got to go golfing and it was the 2nd weekend of february, not bad for up here in BC. Didnt get any better over the winter though

 

[brentl]

It sad that people with 20 handicaps call that BAD.

Something like 1 out of 40 people can consistantly shoot under 100.

SO what wrong with 20 over?

Brent

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

Brent
what's wrong with it is that I've been stuck with it for about 4 years.
I've been golfing since i was like 12 and i'm 21 now.
I don't get out enough, nor have I ever had the proper teaching, to break it.

 

[alan halvorson]

Most people express their handicaps as a positive number; in fact, it's a negative. A player with a +3 handicap, say, is scoring under par. Professional touring players typically have handicaps (if they were figured) of +4 to +7 and who knows what Tiger Woods would have.