Golf Handicap Formula for 9 Hole Rounds

There are two ways to handicap a nine-hole competition: Participants can adapt their regular 18-hole handicaps or they can use the USGA provision for nine-hole handicaps.

If the players want ever to compete in 18-hole events, use of a regular handicap is the best option. For nine-hole events, regular handicaps are halved and then rounded up to the nearest tenth.

If players never play 18-hole rounds, using nine-hole handicaps is much easier. They are computed and used solely for nine-hole events.

Regular 18-hole handicaps are 96 percent of the average of the differentials from the lowest 10 of the last 20 rounds played, multiplied by 113 and divided by the course slope rating.

The nine-hole handicap is calculated in exactly the same way, except using nine-hole scores and course ratings.

For both types of event and either type of handicap, the player's handicap and the slope rating for the course are converted to a course handicap using the course handicap table.