Your Handicap Index® reflects your demonstrated playing ability. To apply it to a specific golf course and set of tees, it's first converted into a Course Handicap. Your Course Handicap represents the number of strokes you'll receive (or give) during play—and indicates how many strokes you need to play to par. For an 18-hole round, it is calculated as follows:
Course Handicap = Handicap Index X (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating - par)
This calculation ensures portability of your Handicap Index across courses and tees of varying difficulty and is used for the application of net double bogey adjustments, which is essential for posting scores for handicap purposes.
Did you know - You can determine your "Target Score" (the score you'll achieve if you play to your handicap) by simply adding together your Course Handicap + par of the tees being played? A player typically plays to their handicap 20-25% of the time and scores 2-5 strokes higher in most rounds.
A Playing Handicap is the actual number of strokes you receive or give during a round, and it’s the number used for scoring in a game or competition. While it’s often the same as your Course Handicap, it can differ if a handicap allowance is applied, if the format is match play, or if players are competing from tees with different pars.
Key Difference in Terms: