A golf handicap is an effort by the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) to account for the large variance in ability of its member golfers. A golf handicap is a score assigned to an individual golfer based on his past performance, with an adjustment for the difficulty of the courses played. More skilled golfers have lower handicaps. In order to earn a handicap, you must keep accurate records of your golfing history and use the USGA handicap calculator.
Report at Least Five Scores
The USGA will not issue you a handicap until you have recorded and reported at least five 18-hole scores. The more scores you report, the more accurate your handicap will become. The USGA uses handicap as an expression of a golfer's potential, so only your best rounds are considered in the actual handicap calculation. For example, if you report five scores, only your best round will be used to determine your handicap, while if you report 20 scores, your best 10 rounds will be used.
Record Course Rating and Slope
An important part of the handicap calculation is the rating and slope of the courses you play. Both rating and slope are measures of a course's difficulty level, and they are calculated in a very different manner. Whereas course rating is used to reflect the difficulty of a course for a professional golfer, slope is more indicative of the difficulty that an amateur golfer will encounter on a given course. Course rating ranges from the mid-60s to the mid-70s and represents what a professional golfer can be expected to score on average on a given course. Slope ranges from 55 to 155, with the average course having a slope of 113. Unlike course rating, slope does not have a direct correlation to a player's expected score, but is rather a relative ranking mechanism.
Use Equitable Stroke Control
As handicap is meant to project a golfer's potential, the USGA implemented a system known as equitable stroke control (ESC) to help produce accurate long-term results. Equitable stroke control restricts the number of strokes that a golfer may report on any one given hole based on his handicap. For example, a very good golfer with a handicap of 9 or lower may only report a score of two shots over bogey, regardless of how bad the actual score on the hole may be. The thought behind ESC is that having one very bad hole may skew an individual golfer's handicap to the point that the handicap is not truly reflective of a player's ability.
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