Golf Handicap Calculator to Quickly Calculate Your Index

Golf Handicap Calculator Sign

This Golf Handicap Calculator, which has been updated to comply with the new World Handicap System (WHS) that took effect on January 1, 2020, will quickly calculate your handicap index and course handicaps.

You can enter 18 or 9-hole adjusted gross scores, or use the built-in hole-by-hole form to add up your score while adjusting your score for any holes that exceed your Net Double Bogey stroke limit.

Plus, you can enter rounds in any order, saving you from having to re-enter the same rating and slope multiple times. And, you can also choose to enter and save courses and tees to make future calculations even faster.

And finally, the calculator includes a printer-friendly handicap report that you can submit to tournament and league organizers.

If you would like to award handicap strokes on a scorecard or calculate a match with handicaps, see the Golf Scorecard Handicap Calculator.

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Golf Handicap Calculator

Calculate your golf handicap index and save your rounds, courses, and tee ratings and slopes between uses.

Special Instructions

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Selected Data Record:

A Data Record is a set of calculator entries that are stored in your web browser's Local Storage. If a Data Record is currently selected in the "Data" tab, this line will list the name you gave to that data record. If no data record is selected, or you have no entries stored for this calculator, the line will display "None".

DataData recordData recordSelected data record: None

Optional Add/Edit Courses:

Tap the plus (+) icon to show the course entry form.

This is an optional feature that allows you to enter the courses you play, along with the rating and slope for each tee. Your courses can then be saved using the Save feature under the Data tab.

To add a course:

  1. Select "New Course" from the drop-down menu.
  2. Enter a name for the course.
  3. Indicate whether it's an 18 or 9 hole course.
  4. Enter a color, rating, slope, and par for each tee you expect to play (you can leave other tees blank).
  5. the "Add Course" button. This will add the course and its tees to drop-down lists for entering rounds.

To edit a previously added course:

  1. Select the course you wish to edit from the drop-down menu.
  2. Make the desired changes.
  3. the "Save Changes" button.

To delete a previously added course:

  1. Select the course you wish to delete from the drop-down menu.
  2. the "Delete Course" button.

Note that editing or deleting a course will not be reflected in any scores you have already entered. So if any scores will be affected by the action, you will need to delete the affected rounds and re-enter them.

Course rating:

Enter the course rating for each of the tees you expect to play from. Course ratings are usually listed on a course's scorecard and typically range between 67 and 77.

Slope rating:

Enter the course slope rating for each of the tees you expect to play from. Course slope ratings are usually listed on a course's scorecard, and range between 55 (easy) and 155 (difficult).

Course name:
Course type:
TeeRatingSlopePar
Enter Rounds

Enter rounds:

Rounds will be sorted by date as you enter them, so you don't have to enter rounds in any order. This can save you from having to type the course name, rating, and slope for each round. Here are the round entry steps:

  1. If you have added courses in the above section, select the course you are entering a round from.
  2. If you selected a course, select the Tee you played from.
  3. Enter the date the round was played.
  4. Enter the course name, rating, slope, and par. If you selected a course and tee, these should be filled in for you.
  5. Select either 9 or 18 holes. If entering a 9-hole score, enter the 9-hole course rating for the nine you played, if available. Otherwise, the calculator will divide the 18-hole rating by two.
  6. If weather or course set up impacted your score, select a Playing Conditions (PC) adjustment (-1 for easier, +1 to +3 for harder).
  7. Select either Total Score or Hole By Hole.
  8. If you selected Total Score, enter your Adjusted Gross Score (see the Learn section for adjusting your score according to the WHS "Maximum Hole Score" guidelines).
  9. If you selected Hole By Hole, enter your score for each hole, adjusting each as necessary. The golf handicap calculator will add up your scores as you enter or select them.
  10. the "Enter Round" button.
  11. Repeat for each round you wish to enter.

You will need to enter at least 3 rounds (or any combination of 18 and 9 hole rounds that add up to 54 holes played) in order to calculate your handicap index, and your rounds can be saved using the Save feature under the Data tab.

If you see a mistake after entering a round, you can delete it from the rounds list and re-enter it.

Date:
CourseRatingSlopePar

Number of holes played:

Select either 9 holes or 18 holes.

9 hole rounds: If you select "9 holes", and the course you played is a 9-hole course, enter the rating as provided by the course. Otherwise, if the 9 holes were played on an 18-hole course, and you didn't add the course to the calculator, manually divide the rating by two and enter it above. If you added the course and tees to the calculator, the calculator will divide the rating by two for you when calculating your 9-hole handicap from 9-hole rounds played on 18-hole courses.

PC:

Playing Conditions (PC):

If you feel your score was affected by the playing conditions (weather, pin placements, etc.), select -1 for easier than normal, or +1 to +3 for harder than normal, with +3 being the hardest. Otherwise, if playing conditions are normal, leave the PC set to zero.

Note that the Playing Conditions adjustment is usually determined by the handicapping authority (league/club secretary, etc.) after a minimum of 8 lower-handicapped players (handicap of 36 or below) have turned in acceptable scores for the day. If the handicapping authority determines a playing condition adjustment is warranted, the calculation is applied to the score differentials of all players who turned in scores on that day.

Score entry form:

Select either "Total Score" or "Hole By Hole."

Total Score: If you select "Total Score," enter your adjusted gross score for the round in the field provided.

Hole By Hole: If you select "Hole By Hole," the calculator will display an 18-hole form, along with an option to enter the hole scores using either a keypad or drop-down menus. In either case, the calculator will add up your total score for you as you type or select your hole scores. Be sure to adjust any scores that exceed the Maximum Hole Score as established by the World Handicap System (WHS).

Total score:
Handicap:Handicap index:Handicap index:Handicap index:

Handicap Index:

This is your estimated handicap index based on the 18-hole score differentials for the rounds you have entered (two 9-hole score differentials are combined to create a single 18-hole differential). The number of score differentials used to calculate your handicap is based on the following chart.

ScoresDifferentialsAdjust
3Lowest 1-2.0
4Lowest 1-1.0
5Lowest 10
6Lowest 2-1.0
7 or 8Lowest 20
9 to 11Lowest 30
12 to 14Lowest 40
15 or 16Lowest 50
17 or 18Lowest 60
19Lowest 70
20Lowest 80
0.0

If you would like to save the current entries to the secure online database, tap or click on the Data tab, select "New Data Record", give the data record a name, then tap or click the Save button. To save changes to previously saved entries, simply tap the Save button. Please select and "Clear" any data records you no longer need.

Related Calculators

golf scorecard handicap calculator

Help and Tools

Learn

How to calculate your handicap index, handicap differentials, and course handicaps.

How to Calculate Your Handicap

In order to calculate your handicap index, you will need a minimum of 54 holes of golf (any combination of 9 or 18-hole rounds that add up to 54).

Step #1: Adjust Scores

Once you have 54 hole scores, you will then need to adjust those scores based on the maximum hole scores as stipulated by the World Handicap System's Net Double Bogey Rule.

If you don't yet have an established handicap index, the maximum score you can turn in for any hole is equal to the hole par plus five strokes. So the maximum score would be 8 on a par three, 9 on a par 4, and 10 on a par 5.

If you do have an established handicap index, the maximum score you can turn in for any hole is equal to the hole par plus two strokes, plus any strokes you are awarded on the hole (or minus strokes given for plus handicap players). So if your handicap index were 14.4 and a par four hole was the 10th most difficult on the course, the maximum hole score for that hole would be 7 (4 + 2 + 1 stroke awarded).

Maximum Hole Score Calculator
Handicap index:
Hole par:
Hole handicap:
Maximum hole score:7
Step #2: Calculate Differentials

Next, you need to calculate the differential for each of the adjusted scores. The differential for each score is calculated using the following formula:

Differential = (113 / Slope Rating) x (Adjusted Gross Score - Course Rating - PCC adjustment).

If you're not familiar, PCC stands for Playing Condition Calculation, which adjusts the handicap differential for a round where playing conditions are deemed to be easier or harder than normal (inclement weather, tough course setup, etc.). The PCC adjustment ranges from -1.0 to +3.0, and can only be determined after a minimum of 8 lower-handicap players have submitted qualifying scores to the handicapping entity on a given day.

If it helps I have included the following golf handicap differential calculator.

Golf Differential Calculator
Course rating:
Slope rating:
Adjusted gross score:
Playing conditions:
Differential:13.8
Step #3: Determine Number of Differentials to Use

Next, determine the number of differentials to use based on the following chart:

ScoresDifferentialsAdjust
3Lowest 1-2.0
4Lowest 1-1.0
5Lowest 10
6Lowest 2-1.0
7 or 8Lowest 20
9 to 11Lowest 30
12 to 14Lowest 40
15 or 16Lowest 50
17 or 18Lowest 60
19Lowest 70
20Lowest 80
Step #4: Calculate your Handicap Index

Sum the lowest differentials and divide by the number of differentials used, and then drop any decimals after the 10th place. For example, if the average differential is 12.234, your handicap index would be 12.2.

Step #5: Adjust Index If Necessary

The maximum handicap index is 54 for both men and women. So if your calculated index exceeds 54, use 54 as your index.

How to Calculate Your Course Handicap

Once you have calculated your handicap index you will then need to convert it to a course handicap in order to apply your handicap to a scorecard. The course handicap formula is as follows:

Course Handicap = (Handicap Index) x (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating - Par)

If it helps, I have included the following course handicap calculator:

Course Handicap Calculator
Handicap index:
Tee slope rating:
Course rating:
Course par score:
Course handicap:13

For a more detailed explanation of the golf handicap system and its intricate details, please visit the World Handicap System Manual.

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Adjust Calculator Width:

Move the slider to left and right to adjust the calculator width. Note that the Help and Tools panel will be hidden when the calculator is too wide to fit both on the screen. Moving the slider to the left will bring the instructions and tools panel back into view.

Also note that some calculators will reformat to accommodate the screen size as you make the calculator wider or narrower. If the calculator is narrow, columns of entry rows will be converted to a vertical entry form, whereas a wider calculator will display columns of entry rows, and the entry fields will be smaller in size ... since they will not need to be "thumb friendly".

Show/Hide Popup Keypads:

Select Show or Hide to show or hide the popup keypad icons located next to numeric entry fields. These are generally only needed for mobile devices that don't have decimal points in their numeric keypads. So if you are on a desktop, you may find the calculator to be more user-friendly and less cluttered without them.

Stick/Unstick Tools:

Select Stick or Unstick to stick or unstick the help and tools panel. Selecting "Stick" will keep the panel in view while scrolling the calculator vertically. If you find that annoying, select "Unstick" to keep the panel in a stationary position.

If the tools panel becomes "Unstuck" on its own, try clicking "Unstick" and then "Stick" to re-stick the panel.