What does handicap mean in golf?

Question

What does handicap mean in golf?

Answer 1

Pretty accurate answer above, but to simplify a bit...

A handicap is basically the number of shots above par a player will shoot on average.  For example, If i am an 18 handicap, I generally shoot bogey golf (18 over par).  If i am a scratch golfer, my handicap is zero, meaning I am suppoded to shoot around even par.  

A handicap allows an 18 handicapper to play evenly against a scratch golfer in a net tournament format, or more likely, for a few bucks.

Answer 2

Handicap was devised so that the poorer player could compete with better players. The method for this was allowing strokes to the poorer player to offset most of the better player's ability. The United States Golf Association and The Royal and Ancient Society of Scotland agreed on a method. First each course was rated as to difficulty. Then each hole within the course was also rated for difficulty and  even  numbers were assigned to the back nine and  odd numbers to the front. It was understood that some nines had holes more difficult than those  on the back  but carried higher handicap numbers to equalize the nines.The application of the handicap strokes in " Match Play " is based on the difference between the players. If the differential in handicaps was 4, the higher handicap player would receive a stroke on  each  of the four hardest holes, two on the front and two on the back. If they were playing in a net score tournament, the total score of each player would be reduced by their respective handicap with the lowest declared the winner.The next step will be the calculation of the individual handicaps.

Answer 3

A golf handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability. It can be used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms.

A golfer's net score is determined from the gross score (the number of strokes actually taken) by subtracting the player's handicap from the gross score. The net scores of all the competing golfers are compared and (generally) the lowest score wins.