A golf handicap is an impartially-calculated assessment of a golfer's potential based on regulations developed by the United States Golf Association. The purpose of a golf handicap is to allow golfers of all abilities to be competitive on a given field of play. Calculating a golf handicap requires a number of pieces of information and usually a calculator.
Handicap Comparisons
The primary use of a handicap is to determine how many strokes a better golfer must concede to a player of lesser ability. An extremely proficient golfer is known as a "scratch" golfer -- one with no handicap. In order to level the playing field, such a golfer would have a number of strokes added to his score equal to a competitor's handicap. For example, if a scratch golfer played a golfer with a 10 handicap, the scratch golfer would have to add 10 strokes to determine the victor at the end of the round.
Score
The primary determinant of a golfer's handicap is his raw score, or the number of shots he needed to complete an 18-hole round. For handicap purposes, this score can be modified by a system known as "equitable score control," which prevents better golfers from falsely inflating their handicaps. According to the procedures of ESC, golfers with handicaps of nine or better cannot record scores greater than double bogey, or two strokes over par, on any hole. Otherwise, a scratch golfer could use poor play on one hole to raise his handicap unjustly.
Slope
Slope is a two- or three-digit number that is meant to reflect the difficulty of a given golf course for a player of average ability, or a "bogey golfer." Course slope is rated on a scale from 55 to 155, with the average course having a slope of 113.
Rating
In addition to slope, all USGA courses also have a rating, which identifies what a scratch golfer would shoot on average for that course. As par on most courses is 72, course ratings typically range in value from the upper-60s to the mid-70s. A course rating can be very different from its slope, as problems that affect average golfers on a course are often different from those that give scratch or professional golfers difficulty.
Handicap Calculation
Golf handicaps are computed by taking a golfer's raw score and subtracting a course's rating. This figure is multiplied by 113, or the average slope of a golf course, and dividing that figure by the actual slope of the course played. The result is multiplied by 0.96 to obtain a golfer's handicap. Over time, lower scores fall off a player's handicap calculation, so that once 20 scores are posted, only the top 10 are averaged to determine a golfer's handicap.
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