Know Before You Play:
Your Handicap Index is a portable number that represents your demonstrated playing ability. It is based on your past scores relative to the difficulty of the courses and tees played, as well as the playing conditions during each one of those rounds.
To calculate your Handicap Index, your 8 best Score Differentials from your most recent 20 rounds are averaged, and additional safeguards are included that:
- Prevent excessive upward movement within one year (see caps), and
- Further reduce a Handicap Index after an exceptional score is posted (see exceptional score reduction).
The following table shows how a Handicap Index is calculated for players with fewer than 20 scores in their scoring record.
