How to Find Your Golf Handicap
By Larry Parr
Obviously not all golfers have the same skills and abilities--otherwise we would all be Tiger Woods. So how do golfers with different skill levels compete against each other? By using what is known as a handicap. Golfers relatively new to the game can determine their handicap and then apply it to their score, allowing them to compete directly against golfers with more experience. A handicap isn't very difficult to figure out: Once you have played at least a dozen 18-hole rounds, you can plug those scores into a fairly simple formula.
Instructions
Difficulty: Easy
Assemble your 12 most recent 18-hole golf scores.
Look up the course rating and slope for each of the 12 rounds you played. They should be printed on the course scorecard; if not, you can call the course and ask or go online and find the figures.
Subtract the course rating from your score at that course. The answer is called the differential. You need to determine all 12 differentials.
Divide each differential by each slope (from Step 2) and multiply the result by 113.
Add up the lowest 10 answers from Step 4, divide that answer by 10 and then multiply that figure by .96. The resulting number is your handicap.
Tips & Warnings
A golfer with a handicap of zero is called a "scratch golfer."
Most pros are scratch golfers.
The goal is to have a handicap as close to zero as possible.
A golfer with a handicap of zero is called a "scratch golfer."
Most pros are scratch golfers.
The goal is to have a handicap as close to zero as possible.
About The Author
Larry Parr has been a full-time professional freelance writer for more than 30 years. For 25 years he wrote cartoons for TV, everything from SMURFS to SPIDER-MAN.
