Course & Playing Handicap
Course handicap and playing handicap from a handicap index, slope, course rating and par, for 18 or 9 holes, with the competition’s allowance.
The course handicap and playing handicap (plus handicaps shown with a plus sign), the unrounded figures, the strokes received or given and on which stroke-index holes, and the score the player plays to.
Example: Index 14.2 on a 128-slope course rated 71.4, par 72: course handicap 15. Index 22.8 at 85 % on slope 135, rating 73.1: 28 course, 24 playing.
Strokes for
this course.
How the index becomes strokes on a particular course, what the allowance does, how plus handicaps and nine holes work, and where the strokes fall.
Course handicap
Course handicap = handicap index × slope rating ÷ 113 + (course rating − par), rounded to the nearest whole number. On a harder course (higher slope) the same index gives more strokes; the rating-minus-par term makes a course that plays long for scratch golfers give a stroke or two more.
Playing handicap
A competition applies a handicap allowance — the percentage is set by the committee for the format. Associations differ on whether it is applied to the rounded or the unrounded course handicap, and the two can differ by one stroke, so the page lets you choose.
Plus handicaps and nine holes
A plus index is entered as a negative number and shown with a plus sign; a plus player gives strokes back, on the easiest holes (the highest stroke indexes). For nine holes the index is halved and the nine-hole slope, rating and par are used.
Where the strokes fall
Strokes go on the holes with the lowest stroke index first: 15 strokes means one on stroke index 1–15; 24 means one on every hole and a second on 1–6. Halves round away from zero here. Inputs stay in your browser; the same anonymous usage counts as the rest of the site apply.
SOURCES
- Rules of Handicapping (World Handicap System), USGA and The R&A — Rules 5 and 6
Last reviewed 24 September 2026. How results are checked: How we verify.