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Your Handicap Index is designed to allow you to compete with golfers of all skill levels. The Handicap Index is used to determine your Course Handicap, which varies depending on the course and set of tees you play from for a particular round. The Course Handicap is the number of strokes subtracted from your gross score to give a net score. The strokes are allocated on specific holes, based on their difficulty. To learn more about the Handicap Index and how to use it, read our post here.
By playing with a Handicap Index, you can compete with golfers of any skill level without having to give out strokes arbitrarily. By using a Handicap Index, you can compete against your own potential scoring ability instead of other golfer’s scores. For example, let’s say you shoot a gross score of 94 with a Course Handicap of 24, and your friend shoots 86 with a Course Handicap of 14. Even though your friend shot a lower gross score (which, based on the handicap differences, they will almost every time), your net score is lower (70 vs. 72).
If that’s not enough, check out the Top 10 Reasons to Have a Handicap.
GHIN stands for "Golf Handicap and Information Network" and is a service established by the United States Golf Association (USGA) to assist in providing handicaps for players that belong to golf clubs affiliated with their allied (regional) golf association. For example, if you join a golf club that is affiliated with the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA), one of the benefits you'll receive as a member is a Handicap ID (GHIN number). A GHIN number is the unique ID provided to you to keep your Handicap Index. A Handicap Index is essential for you to enter specific golf tournaments or events. Last, but not least, GHIN is pronounced like the alcoholic beverage gin.
To get a GHIN number, join a golf club affiliated with your local golf association, like the SCGA.
Yes, to maintain a valid Handicap Index, you must be a member of an authorized USGA “golf club”. This is because the Handicap System is founded on the concept of peer review, meaning you need to have an assigned Handicap Chair to ensure the scores you're posting are correct. Don’t worry! We make the process easy by automating the process of finding a club near you (Associate Membership) or by helping your find a local group that fits your personality, ability level and style of play (Club Finder Tool). You can also start your own golf club if that’s more your style!
Your GHIN number is tied to your allied (regional) association, which has been authorized to provide a Handicap Index by the USGA. The USGA does offer a separate membership, which is a philanthropic donation in support of the USGA, which does not include a Handicap Index.
The only way to get a Handicap Index is thorugh an authorized golf club - this makes it official! Whether you’re trying to qualify for the U.S. Open, play in a local club event, or participate in a charity tournament, a Handicap Index will always be accepted (and other "handicap" likely won’t be).
You'll need to record your scores to GHIN account, otherwise known as "posting scores", in order to establish a Handicap Index. To post a score, you'll need to know your adjusted gross score, the name of the course you played, and the tees from which you played.
You can post both 9-hole and 18-hole rounds from any course that has an official Course Rating. You can post any scores you have saved, regardless of when you played. The only requirement is that your round is not played alone so that someone can verify your score.
You can post a score on GHIN.com, on the USGA’s GHIN mobile app, or posting computer found in the golf shop at your local golf course. For more information and videos, check out our Quick Start Guide. To post, you’ll need to enter the course, set of tees, and your score.
You need to post three 18-holes scores (or six 9-hole scores) in order to establish your handicap.
Your Handicap Index will be issued the morning after you reach the above threshold (three 18-hole scores/six 9-hole scores).
Yes, your Handicap Index is meant to give the most accurate representation of your demonstrated ability. In order to do that, you need to post your all your best and worst rounds.
If your membership lapses, your GHIN number and score history will be archived and available for future activation.
If you need to change an incorrect score on your file, you’ll need to contact your club’s Handicap Chair. or the SCGA It is a best practice to review the information entered before formally choosing the post or post score buttons.
The maximum Handicap Index is 54.0.
Your Handicap Index is a generic standard that is not tied to any course or tees. In order to get the right value for a particular round, you need to convert the Handicap Index into what is called a Course Handicap for playing purposes each time you play. There are many ways to determine your Course Handicap for the tees you will be playing; you need the Course Rating, Slope Rating and Par for those tees:
• There are often charts near golf course computers used for score posting where you can look up the Course Handicap based on your Handicap Index
• The score posting computers will convert your Index under “My Handicap Information” Section, then choosing Course Handicap
• If you use the GHIN Mobile App, choose the Course Handicap Calculator
• SCGA.org will direct you to ghin.com. After entering your GHIN number and last name choose Course Handicap Calculator and search for and pick the tees being played.
In general, a player’s Course Handicap will be equal to or greater than the Handicap Index when playing a tee with a Slope Rating of 113 or more, and less than the Handicap Index when playing a tee with a Slope Rating of less than 113.
Your gross score is the total number of strokes you took. Your net score is the total strokes subtracted by the number of handicap strokes you receive according to your Course Handicap. For example, if you shot 82 and have a Course Handicap of 12, your gross score would be 82 and your net score would be 70.
If you’re just playing a normal round of golf, it’s usually enough to just know your final net score. However, there are plenty of times when you’ll need to know exactly on which holes to apply strokes, such as match play, stableford, even just playing for skins with your friends. And you need to know where you receive strokes to determine your maximum hole score for handicap score posting purposes (to enter your score hole by hole on all score posting tools and let those tools do the work automatically). Also, when playing in a handicapped tournament or event, you may see dots on different holes on your scorecard. Each dot represents how many extra strokes you’ll receive on a given hole.
Each hole on the course is given a number based on the difficulty, with 1 being the most difficult hole and 18 being the easiest. For each hole with a number less than or equal to your Course Handicap, you’ll subtract a stroke from your net score for that hole. For example, if you have a Course Handicap of 12 score a 5 on a hole numbered 1-12, your net score will be 4. If your Course Handicap is greater than 18, you’ll subtract 1 stroke for every hole, then continue to subtract additional strokes restarting with 1 until you reach your Course Handicap. For example, a Course Handicap of 20 would subtract 2 strokes on holes rated 1 and 2, and 1 stroke on every other hole. You can find the rating for each hole on the course scorecard.
The maximum hole score for each player for handicap purposes will be limited to a Net Double Bogey, calculated as follows: Double Bogey + handicap strokes a player receives based on their Course Handicap. A score for handicap purposes should not be overly influenced by one or two bad hole scores that are not reflective of a player’s demonstrated ability.
As an example, a player with a Course Handicap of 16 would have a maximum hole score of triple bogey (double bogey plus one stroke received) on the holes where the handicap allocation/Stroke Index is 1-16 and a double bogey (double bogey and no strokes received) on the holes where the handicap allocation/Stroke Index is 17 or 18.. So if this person scored 102 and had an 11 on the sixth hole (a par 5 with Stroke Index 7) and had a 9 on hole 14 (a par 4 with Stroke Index 18), they would need to deduct three strokes for the sixth hole ((11 – max score of 8 (double bogey plus 1) = 3)) and three on hole 14 ((9 – max score of 6 (double bogey 6 and no strokes received) = 3)) for a total of six strokes deducted from the 102 gross score. This results in an adjusted gross score of 96 (102 – 3 – 3 = 96). The individual would post a 96 for handicap purposes. If you post your score hole by hole for handicap purposes the program will figure out your maximum for the hole and automatically adjust accordingly.
For handicap purposes, if you play 10-17 holes you must post your hole by hole score and leave the other holes blank. The scoring posting tool will then use a formula to determine an expected score value for you for any unplayed holes. If you play nine holes only, tell the score posting tool you have played nine holes and again let the tool use a formula to determine an expected score value for any unplayed holes.
An “adjusted gross score” is a player’s gross score adjusted under the World Handicap System procedures for unfinished holes, conceded strokes, holes not played or not played under the Rules of Golf, or Maximum Hole Score/Net Double Bogey.
The Score Differential determines which of your scores are actually the best scores, taking into account the course difficulty (Course Rating and Slope Rating are both important). The formula is: Score Differential = (Adjusted Gross score –Course Rating-Playing Conditions Calculation adjustment) x 113 / Slope Rating. Example: Adjusted Gross Score was 95 at a course with 73.5/130 (USGA Course Rating/Slope Rating)
• Adjusted Gross Score (95)
Minus the course rating (73.5)
• Result = 21.5
• Take the standard Slope (113) of a golf course and divide by the Slope Rating of the tees played 113 x 130 = .869
Multiply the two results together and round to the nearest tenth: 21.5 x .869 =18.683 rounded to 18.7
For each score posted, a Score Differential is calculated. This is to determine which scores are the best scores, considering the course difficulty (Course Rating and Slope Rating are both important). The formula is:
Score Differential = (Adjusted Gross score –Course Rating-Playing Conditions Calculation adjustment) x 113 / Slope Rating
Once your score file consists of 20 scores, your eight lowest differentials are added together and averaged then rounded to the nearest tenth, the result being your Handicap Index.. Your eight lowest score differentials are used, not necessarily the eight lowest scores in your score file.
A player needs a minimum of three scores to calculate a Handicap Index. If a player has at least three but fewer than 20 score differentials available, the Handicap Index will be computed as follows:
| Scores Posted | Differentials Used |
| 3 | Lowest 1, then -2 adjustment |
| 4 | Lowest 1, then -1 adjustment |
| 5 | Lowest 1 |
| 6 | Average of lowest 2, then -1 adjustment |
| 7-8 | Average of lowest 2 |
| 9-11 | Average of lowest 3 |
| 12-14 | Average of lowest 4 |
| 15-16 | Average of lowest 5 |
| 17-18 | Average of lowest 6 |
| 19 | Average of lowest 7 |
| 20 | Average of lowest 8 |
Only your 20 most recent scores are considered when calculating your Handicap Index, with the 8 lowest differentials of those 20 scores being used. If you have less than 20 scores posted, the number of differentials used varies (see table in “How is a Handicap Index calculated?”)
This usually means that you have a cap associated with the calculation of your Handicap Index, which is part of the formula. If you look in your scoring record you will likely see a your Low Handicap Index is at least 3.0 lower than your Handicap Index. To learn more about the cap procedure of the formula please see the relevant sub-section of the SCGA's World Handicap System Hub.
The Low Handicap Index is the lowest Handicap Index value that an individual has had in the last 365 days since a score was posted. It is not calculated; it just looks at each of the issued Handicap Index values that a golfer has on record during the time period.
