Golf Handicap Calculator (World Handicap System)
Enter your recent rounds as score, course rating and slope rating. You get each score differential, the ones that count, your Handicap Index and a Course Handicap for any course.
Course Handicap (optional)
Worked examples
One round
85 on course rating 71.2, slope 128
Score differential 12.2
113 / 128 x (85 - 71.2) = 12.18, rounded to 12.2.
A Course Handicap
Index 15.4 on slope 125, rating 70.5, par 72
Course Handicap 16, Playing Handicap 15 at 95%
15.4 x 125 / 113 + (70.5 - 72) = 15.5, which rounds to 16.
About Golf Handicap Calculator (World Handicap System)
The World Handicap System is the common method of measuring golfing ability, set by the R&A and the USGA and used by England Golf and the other national bodies. A Handicap Index is calculated from the best of your last 20 rounds, using a score differential for each one that allows for the difficulty of the course and the day. This calculator does the whole process from the rounds you enter.
For each round the score differential is 113 divided by the slope rating, multiplied by your adjusted gross score minus the course rating and any adjustment for the playing conditions on the day. The index is the average of the best differentials, with the number that count set by the number of rounds you have. A Course Handicap then converts the index to a number of shots for the tees you are playing.
How to use Golf Handicap Calculator (World Handicap System)
- Enter one round per line: adjusted gross score, course rating and slope rating. An optional fourth number is the playing conditions adjustment.
- Say whether the newest or oldest round comes first. Only the latest 20 count.
- Add your lowest Handicap Index of the last 12 months if you want the caps applied.
- Enter the slope rating, course rating and par of the tees you will play to get a Course Handicap.
Common uses
- Estimating a Handicap Index before it appears in the club system
- Seeing which of your recent rounds count towards the index
- Working out how many shots you get on a particular course
- Checking how an unusually high or low round moves your handicap
Frequently asked questions
How is a score differential worked out?
It is 113 divided by the slope rating, multiplied by the adjusted gross score minus the course rating minus any playing conditions adjustment, rounded to one decimal place. A score of 85 on a course rated 71.2 with a slope of 128 gives 12.2.
How many rounds count?
It depends on how many you have. With 20 rounds the best 8 count. With 17 or 18 the best 6, with 12 to 14 the best 4, with 9 to 11 the best 3, with 7 or 8 the best 2, and with 3 to 5 just the best one, with an adjustment at 3, 4 and 6.
What are the soft and hard caps?
They limit how fast an index can rise. Once an index is more than 3.0 above your lowest index in the last 12 months, increases beyond that are halved, and it can never be more than 5.0 above it.
What is an adjusted gross score?
Your score with each hole limited to net double bogey, which is par plus 2 plus any shots you receive on the hole. Enter that figure, not your raw score.
How is the Course Handicap calculated?
It is the Handicap Index multiplied by the slope rating over 113, plus the course rating minus par, rounded to the nearest whole number. A competition then applies an allowance, such as 95% for individual stroke play, to give the Playing Handicap.