Your Handicap Index® represents your demonstrated playing ability. It is a portable number, so you can use it from course to course and tee to tee. It is based on the Score Differentials™ from your past rounds – that is, your performance relative to the difficulty of the courses and tees played, as well as the playing conditions during each of those rounds.
Your eight best Score Differentials from your most recent 20 rounds are averaged as the first step in calculating your Handicap Index. Additional safeguards are included in the Handicap Index calculation to add integrity to the system. More specifically, they:
- Prevent extreme upward movement of a Handicap Index with a soft cap or hard cap, which begins to apply when the 8 of 20 average is 3.0 or more strokes above the Low Handicap Index™ from the previous 365 days. A player receives a Low Handicap Index once 20 scores have been posted, and at that point is eligible for a cap.
- Further reduce a Handicap Index after an exceptional score is posted, which is a Score Differential that is at least 7.0 strokes better than the Handicap Index at the time the round is played. This allows the Handicap Index to be responsive to exceptional performances in both competitive and casual play.
If either one of these safeguards is applied, it will be clearly identified in your scoring record.
Are you working toward 20 rounds? Not to worry – a Handicap Index can be calculated with as few as three 18-hole scores (comprised of 9- and/or 18-hole scores). When fewer than 20 scores are in your scoring record, a lower number of scores are used to calculate your Handicap Index. The following table provides the details:
