How Does A Golf Handicap Work?

Almost all golf clubs will maintain the handicaps of their members or regular customers. Most of them are connected to the USGA through a computer system, which enables players to simply punch in their scores at the end of a round. After joining the club or registering in its handicap computer, 20 rounds are required to get your first handicap. The rounds can be at the home club or other courses. If the rounds are played elsewhere, you will need to input the course rating and slope of that course into the computer, numbers that can be found on the scorecard. The course rating and slope (which measure the difficulty of the course) for the home club is usually defaulted into the computer.
You can also maintain your handicap online through websites such as Last Minute Golfer or My Scorecard.

When entering scores for your handicap, it's important to have counted all of your strokes and putted out on every hole. Unless that is done, a player cannot get a true measure of his ability level, and therefore, his handicap. Also, enter the scores for all rounds played. Don't omit a bad round.

After 20 rounds, you will have a handicap index. Let's say your handicap at the end of that period is minus-20 (most golfers will have a negative handicap number. The best players are "scratch," which is a zero handicap, or a plus number. Tiger Woods is believed to have a plus-10 handicap). With the minus-20 handicap, if you're matched against a player who is a minus-10, that player will "give" you 10 strokes. Usually that means on the five most difficult holes on each nine (the holes will be ranked on the scorecard), you can subtract one shot from your final score on that hole for a "net" result, while your opponent must count all strokes he hit. If he makes a 5 on the hole, and you make a 5, you get a net 4 and win the hole.
Many golf tournaments require players to have a certified USGA handicap to enter. If you are registered at your home club, you can get printouts of your handicap index.