How many rounds must a golfer have played to be eligible for a handicap?

Question

How many rounds must a golfer have played to be eligible for a handicap?

Answer 1

Depends on the method you use to calculate it, but the generally accpeted (and most accurate) is 20 rounds.  This system counts your 10 best scores, each subsiquent round you play knocks off your highest round (assuming that the new round is lower than your highest) thus giving you a rolling 20 round average.  

But I have seen systems that give you a handicap with as few as 2 rounds.  All you have to do is subtract the Course Rating from you score and that will give you a rough idea of your handicap.

Answer 2

You'll be given an "instant index" after only 1 round.  But you don't have an official USGA handicap until 5 rounds.  But they only use your 1 best round of 5.  Your handicap though is based on your last 20 scores only.  (And only the best 10 of those are actually used)

Answer 3

An official handicap is based on the lowest 10 scores of your most recent 20 rounds posted.  So technically you must have played 20 rounds.  However most handicap services will compute a temporary handicap after about 8 rounds played.

Answer 4

For a USGA Handicap, you need a minimum of 5 rounds.  While it's true that the best 10 rounds out of the last 20 are used in the calculation, that's only after you've played 20 rounds.  You can officially start after only 5 rounds.  

Here's the breakdown:

# of Rounds Played /  # of Rounds Used

5 or 6:  Lowest 1

7 or 8:  Lowest 2

9 or 10: Lowest 3

11 or 12: Lowest 4

13 or 14: Lowest 5

15 or 16: Lowest 6

17: Lowest 7

18: Lowest 8

19: Lowest 9

20 (or more): Lowest 10 of the last 20

It's not necessarily the lowest scores that are used, it's the lowest Differentials, which take into account the course's slope and rating.

If you want to see all of the details explained in a pretty straightforward way, check out http://www.imagolfer.com (which is free for individuals) and create an individual account.  Click on the Sign-Up button and be sure to select INDIVIDUAL, which is free and doesn't time-out or anything.

You can enter your scores and it will calculate your handicap index and course handicaps.  You can click on your handicap for any round for a detailed explanation of which scores were used, the resulting differentials, and all of the calculations that are used to determine your handicap.

It's not an official USGA Handicap Index since you need to be a member of a sanctioned club to have a recognized handicap, but it will calculate exactly the same.  

Here are the formulas for the calculation:

Handicap Differentials:

(Adjusted Gross Score - Course Rating) x 113 / Slope

      Round to nearest tenth

Handicap Index:

(Average Handicap Differential) x 0.96

      Truncate to tenth (do not round)

Course Handicap:

Course Handicap = (Handicap Index) x (Slope) / 113

Once you have a Handicap Index, it will be converted to a Course Handicap based on the slope of the course.

I know this post is pretty long, but it's correct.  A few of the other responses are way off.  

- Rich

Answer 5

An official handicap is based on using the total of the 10 lowest scores from the last 20 rounds played  divided by 10, factored by the slope of the course and taking 96% of that to arrive at the index which determines the handicap. The player, for tournament purposes, may have a handicap figured if rounds played are less than 20. Most clubs will not allow members to participate in plaque tournaments unless they have an official handicap.