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Many of you likely know the basics of the World Handicap System: what a Handicap Index® is, how to post a score and maybe even the formula to calculate your Handicap Index. But do you actually know how to use it once you step up to the first tee?
One of the most common misconceptions about the Handicap Index is that it's a particular number of strokes to be subtracted from your score universally, regardless of where you're playing. The truth is, your Handicap Index is just the starting point. If you want to have a fair competition and actually know how many strokes you're getting in any given round, here are three terms you should know:
Course Handicap™
If you're unfamiliar with this term you might be asking, "What's the difference? Course Handicap and Handicap Index sound like two words for the same exact thing." The difference is that your Handicap Index is just a starting point to figure out your target score. It has to be factored into two other calculations based on the course and set of tees you're playing: the Course Rating (what a scratch golfer could expect to shoot) and the Slope Rating (how much more difficult the course is for a bogey golfer versus a scratch golfer).
Think about it this way: if you're a 15 handicap, would you expect to shoot 15 over at both your local par-3 course and from the tips at Torrey Pines GC? That's not to say that you couldn't do it, one is just much more likely to happen. That's what the Course Handicap accounts for.
One of the perks of using the USGA’s GHIN app is that it has a Course Handicap calculator built-in, which will account for the Course Rating, Slope Rating and par automatically. Fire up your app to keep your hole-by-hole score while playing and it'll show you the Course Handicap as soon as you enter the course and tees you're playing.
If you add your Course Handicap to par of the tees being played you’ll have your “target score,” which is the score you’ll need to shoot in order to play to your handicap. Just know that a typical golfer scores 2-5 strokes higher in most rounds, and can expect to play to their handicap about 20% of the time.
Score Differential™
If we think of the Course Handicap as a target based on your current Handicap Index, then we can say that the Score Differential is a reflection of how well you actually played relative to the difficulty of the course. For example, if the Score Differential produced is 19.0, it means you played like a golfer with a Handicap Index of 19.0 during that round.
This is also the key component in calculating your Handicap Index. When your Index is compiled using your best eight rounds of the last 20, that doesn't mean simply taking the lowest eight scores from that period. It takes the average of your lowest eight Score Differentials to determine your playing potential.
Most Likely Score
This final term is probably the most straightforward and covers a situation that might arise during the round.
Whenever you start a hole but don’t finish it (for example, in match play when a putt or hole is conceded), the score you record on the hole is your most likely score. This is what allows scores from popular formats such as match play or four-ball stroke play to remain acceptable for handicap purposes.
How do you know what score to record? Whenever you pick up on the hole, simply add the number of strokes you’ve already taken (including penalty strokes) to the number of strokes you would most likely need to hole out from that position. Use the guidelines within the Rules of Handicapping to help determine your most likely score, but also ask yourself, “what is most likely to happen from here?” and you’ll have a score that represents your performance on the hole.
For example, if you’re on the green and have a 15-foot putt remaining, it’s safe to say you would most likely two-putt from that position. So, if you’re lying four when you pick up, your most likely score would be six.
One last point about most likely score is that it can’t exceed your maximum hole score for handicap purposes, a.k.a. net double bogey. As long as you post hole-by-hole, your score posting app will take care of that math for you.
