What is a handicap?
One of the reasons golf is such a popular game is that a system of handicapping means players of all abilities can play against each other.
A handicap is a certain number of strokes which a player is allowed to remove from his total score for a round.
Think of a handicap like a headstart given by more skilful players to weaker.
The better the player, the lower the handicap.
It means that good players with a low handicap can play those with a higher handicap and the game can still remain competitive.
A player with an 18 handicap, for example, will subtract 18 shots from his or her score at the end of the round.
The handicap system can seem confusing, which is why it is so important to keep your scores on a scorecard so you can work it all out at the end of your round.
Only highly skilled players reach zero, also known as “scratch”.
A select few even get so good they enter positive figures – which means they have to add strokes to their total.
In reality, most golfers who reach that standard are good enough to turn professional.
All professional tournaments are played off scratch i.e. without handicaps.
In foursomes, the team’s handicap is usually calculated by adding the two players’ handicaps together and dividing by two.
The normal maximum handicap is:
The actual number of shots taken to play a hole or a round is known as the ‘gross’ score.
To calculate how well he or she has played, the player deducts his handicap from the total to work out the ‘net’ score.
For instance, if a player with a handicap of 20 takes 90 shots to go round a par 70 course his net score will be 70 – which means he will have ‘played to his handicap’ – ie returned a net score the same as par.
You can also work out your score for each hole as you go along as illustrated above.
If you do not have a handicap you can work out what it roughly is by subtracting par for the course from your total.
For instance if you return a score of 98 on a par 72 course, you will have played to a handicap of around 26.
Your handicap score is actually calculated by the standard scratch score but this method gives you a ball-park idea of where your game is at.
The 18 holes on a course are generally ranked according to how hard they are using the stroke index.
Usually this means that the hardest hole on a course will be stroke index one and the easiest, stroke index 18.
But, as with many things in golf, it is more complicated than that.
Put simply, the stroke index works in parallel to the handicap.
So if you have a handicap of 14, you should subtract one shot from your gross score at the holes which have been designated as stroke index one to 14.
If you have a handicap of more than 18, there will be some holes at which you can take more than one shot.
For instance with a handicap of 24, you should take two shots at holes with stroke index one to six (18 + 6 = 24).
Although holes are rated by difficulty, the even spread of the stroke index is the most important factor.
If you look at a card the odd numbered stroke index holes will be allocated to the harder of the two sets of nine holes on the course.
There are other factors for deciding the stroke index. You can see these at the English Golf Union’s website.
There are different teeing areas which are marked by different colour tee boxes on a course.
Competition tees (white), men’s tees (yellow), women’s tees (red) and some clubs are introducing blue tees for veterans and juniors.
The white tees are usually the furthest from the hole and the blue tees the nearest.
The stroke index for a round will be different depending on which tees you are playing from.
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