Handicap Index - A Quick Overview

The USGA Handicap Index is calculated based on factors related to the specific golf course you are playing at, and your gross score for each 18-hole round of golf you are tracking. In order to get an accurate handicap index, you need to play a minimum of five rounds of golf and a maximum of twenty. You then input your 18-hole stroke total for each round along with the USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating for the course you are playing at.

If you were calculating your handicap index manually, you would then run each score through a formula to calculate the handicap differentials, then find the average of the lowest differentials based on the total number of rounds you played. Luckily, you don’t need to worry about this step since the calculator below will take care of everything for you.

All that is required is for you to input your total strokes for each 18-hole game, along with the course info into the chart below. Press calculate, and voila!

Once you know your handicap index, you can use it at any golf course to determine your actual handicap. To find out what your actual course handicap is, just multiply your handicap index by the slope rating for the set of tees at the golf course you are playing at. Once you have this number, you divide it by 113 (the standard slope rating. this gives you a nice decimal number that you round up or down (standard rounding rules apply), and voila, There's your real handicap!

Here's a quick example just to ilustrate:

Suppose you used the handicap index calculator below, and found out that your index is: 15.4

Now lets say the tees we are currently shooting at have a slope rating of 126: 15.4 * 126 = 1940.4

Finaly we take that number and divide it by the average slope rating which is always 113: 1940.4 / 113 = 17.172 which rounds to 17!