Golf Handicap Calculator

A Handicap Index exists so golfers of unequal ability can compete on fair terms, and it is built from your recent rounds together with each course's rating and slope. The rules come from the World Handicap System (WHS), which replaced the USGA Handicap System in 2020; its first revision took effect in the U.S. on January 16, 2024.

The WHS formula draws on your adjusted gross scores, the course rating, and the slope rating, pulling your 8 best results from your most recent 20 rounds. For each round it computes a differential as (Adjusted Gross Score - Course Rating - Playing Conditions Calculation adjustment) × (113 / Slope Rating). Each differential is rounded to the nearest tenth. With 20 scores the Handicap Index is the average of the 8 lowest, rounded to the tenth, with no multiplier; the old 0.96 "bonus for excellence" was dropped in 2020. With fewer scores it averages fewer differentials (the lowest 1 of 3 to 5, rising to the lowest 7 of 19) and subtracts 2.0 with 3 scores and 1.0 with 4 or 6. Your Course Handicap for a given set of tees is the index × Slope Rating ÷ 113, plus the Course Rating minus par, rounded to a whole number.

Cap each hole at net double bogey (double bogey plus any handicap strokes you receive on that hole) before entering the score, because raw blow-up holes will inflate the index well beyond your true ability; this cap replaced Equitable Stroke Control in 2020. Too small a sample is the usual pitfall: the WHS will establish an initial index from as few as three 18-hole scores (or six 9-hole scores), but a full 20 rounds yields the most reliable figure. Verify the course rating and slope for the exact tees you played, since those two values drive the entire calculation.