Can anyone give me a formula to work out my golf handicap?

Question

I would like a formula to work out my golf handicap without having to register on a site or download any software...

Answer 1

http://golf.about.com/cs/handicapping/a/...

Answer 2

(Score - Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating

Answer 3

1. Take the scores from the last five rounds (18 holes each) that you played.

2. Look up the rating and slope for the course that you played for each of these scores. This information is usually printed on the scorecard, although you can also get the rating and slope by calling the course.



3.Subtract the course rating from the score you earned on that course.

4. Multiply that number by 113.

5. Divide that number by the slope of the course. This number is the differential.

6. Take the lowest of your five differentials and multiply it by 0.96, and you have your handicap

Answer 4

Lower Your Handicap With Golf Pro Lessons, Center Of Gravity Golf Book  

Answer 5

You might want to check the site in the source link - they have a lot of good golf info and may have the answer to this question.

Answer 6

take your best 10 rounds of your last twenty, and average the scores over par. If the course was tougher, indicate that. Then take the average and it will reflect an idea of what your handicap could be.

Answer 7

If you are in the UK rather than the USA, you don't have to worry about complicated things like slope ratings - the British CONGU system is much simpler. If you were joining a club, what they would do to assign you a handicap is:

You play 3 rounds with a member and get them to sign your scorecard each time.

On those cards, adjust the number of shots taken per hole so that it is never more than 2 over par (3 over for ladies) - so anything over 5 on a par 3 is made into a 5, and so on.

Add up the adjusted total for each card, and take away the Standard Scratch Score for the course (SSS) which should be printed on the scorecard.

Your handicap is the lowest of the three totals, but no more than 28 for an adult male, 36 for a lady. Juniors can have higher handicaps - up to 54 - at the discretion of their club.

So if your best card was originally a 98, but had two triple bogeys and a quadruple bogey, that makes net 94, and if the SSS of the course is 71, your handicap is 23.

Once you have your handicap, it will be adjusted depending on how you score in each round. First, as before, adjust your scorecard to remove very bad scores - but now the reduction is to NET double bogey (ie for a 23-handicapper, +3 on a hole with a Stroke Index of 6 or above, +4 on one with SI 5 or lower). Compare this total to the SSS.

If you shoot BETTER than your handicap, you will lose a certain number of shots for EACH shot you are under net par: 0.1 if your playing handicap is under 5; 0.2 if it is 6-12; 0.3 if it is 13-20; 0.4 if it is 21-28; 0.5 if it is 29 or over. So a 23-handicapper shooting 20-over has his handicap reduced by 3 x 0.4 = 1.2, to 21.8.

There is then a "buffer zone" in which your handicap doesn't change. If you shoot between net level par and +1 (hcap 5 or less), par to +2 (6-12), +3 (13-20), +4 (21-28) or +5 (29+), your handicap is unchanged.

If you shoot worse than this buffer zone, your handicap goes up by 0.1. Note that this is a fixed amount, not based on how many you are over par - so if a 23-handicapper shoots 35 over par, his handicap only goes up by 0.1

This calculation yields a new EXACT handicap. Your PLAYING handicap is your exact handicap rounded to the nearest whole number (halves rounded up). Any future adjustment are then made to this exact handicap.

Answer 8

The  USGA method of determining an individual's handicap is to take the best 10 of the last 20 rounds played. Total those. Take 1/10th of the total. Subtract the par of your course. You have a difference.Multiply that difference by .96 and you have the handicap for your course. If you are playing elsewhere your handicap will be adjusted  by the difficulty of their course as compared with yours.

Answer 9

The link provided by fromthegettgo pretty much sums up on how to calculate your handicap index yourself.  If you don't want to go through the trouble of doing it yourself, here are some FREE sites that will do that for you.

http://golf.about.com/od/handicaps/l/blh...

http://golf.sports.yahoo.com/

http://www.stracka.com/stracka.asp

The only problem with calculating your own handicap or using one of these free sites is that the handicap index might not be recognized by other clubs and tournaments because they are not USGA Official Handicap Index.  But if you only needed to know your handicap for a friendly round of betting with your friends, or use it as a guideline to improve your game, it should be sufficient.