The goal
Handicap strokes exist so that two golfers of different ability can play a fair match. The better player plays to scratch, the other receives strokes on the holes where they are most likely to need them, and the match is decided by who plays better against their own standard. To work out those strokes you take four steps, always in the same order.
Step 1: Handicap Index to Course Handicap
A Handicap Index describes your ability on a course of standard difficulty. To play a particular set of tees you convert it to a Course Handicap:
Course Handicap = Handicap Index x (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating - Par)
For example, Ann has an index of 10.4. She plays tees with a Slope Rating of 130, a Course Rating of 72.1 and a par of 72. 10.4 x 130 / 113 is 11.96, and 72.1 minus 72 is 0.1, so her Course Handicap is 12.06. Keep the decimals for now. Rounding comes at the end.
For nine holes, halve the Handicap Index to one decimal and use the nine-hole slope, rating and par. A published example: index 8.7, nine-hole rating 35.3, slope 121 and par 36 gives a Course Handicap of 4.
Step 2: Apply the allowance
Each format has a recommended allowance, a percentage of the Course Handicap that gives the fairest result. In individual match play it is 100%. In four-ball match play it is 90% of the difference from the lowest handicap. In foursomes match play it is 50% of the difference between the two teams' combined handicaps. Stroke play formats have their own figures: for example 95% for individual stroke play and 85% for four-ball stroke play.
The allowance is applied to the unrounded number, and the result is rounded to a whole number as the very last step, with a half rounded up. This is the Playing Handicap. Rounding too early is the most common reason two players' strokes differ by one.
Step 3: Play off the low
In match play the player with the lowest handicap plays at zero, and everyone else receives the difference. If Ann has 12 and Bo has 18, Bo receives 6 strokes. If you are in a group of four playing different matches, each match uses the difference between its two players. For singles at 100% this is simply the difference in Course Handicaps.
For four-ball match play, you take the difference between each player's Course Handicap and the lowest in the group of four, then apply 90%. For example, differences of 8, 17 and 29 from the low player become 7, 15 and 26 strokes after rounding.
Step 4: Allocate the strokes to holes
Every hole on the card has a stroke index from 1 (hardest) to 18 (easiest). Strokes go to holes in index order, starting at 1. If Bo receives 6 strokes, he gets one on the six holes with stroke index 1 to 6. If a player receives more than 18, they get a second stroke on holes starting again at index 1, so 20 strokes means two on holes 1 and 2 and one on the rest.
Plus handicaps work the other way around. A plus handicap player gives strokes back, starting at stroke index 18 and working toward 1. The stroke index on nine-hole rounds played on an 18-hole card is re-ranked 1 to 9 using the printed indexes of those nine holes.
A full example
Ann (Course Handicap 12) plays Bo (18). Bo receives 6 strokes, on the holes with stroke index 1 to 6. On a par 4 that is stroke index 3 both players make a 5. Ann has no stroke there, so her net is 5. Bo has a stroke, so his net is 4 and he wins the hole. On a par 3 that is stroke index 14 they both make 3. Neither has a stroke, so the hole is halved.
This is why the index order matters. Strokes on hard holes are worth more than strokes on easy holes, because a high handicap player is more likely to need the extra shot there. It also means the better player still has chances on every hole where the high handicap player gets no stroke.
Foursomes
In foursomes, partners play one ball between them, taking turns. Each team's combined handicap is the sum of the two Course Handicaps, and in match play the lower team plays at zero and the higher team receives 50% of the difference. For example, if one team has a combined 30 and the other 11, the difference is 19 and the allowance is 9.5, which rounds up to 10 strokes. The strokes go to holes in index order as before.
Greensomes and other mixes
Some formats use a different split. In greensomes, both players tee off, the team picks one drive, and the partners alternate from there. The usual allowance is 60% of the lower handicap plus 40% of the higher. Check what your committee uses and write it on the card.
Par 3s, half strokes and other variants
Some groups do not give strokes on par 3s or give half strokes. These variations are legitimate if everyone knows about them. Agree them before the round, because they change who wins close holes. The strokes off the low calculator on this site works with any stroke index list, so you can check how many strokes land on which holes.
Common mistakes
- Rounding the Course Handicap before applying the allowance.
- Using the Handicap Index instead of the Course Handicap for the tees played.
- Giving strokes in hole order (1, 2, 3) instead of stroke index order.
- Forgetting that the low player plays scratch in match play.
- Using the full handicap for each player and forgetting the strokes cancel on holes they share.
Try it
The Course Handicap calculator gives you the Course Handicap, Playing Handicap and strokes by hole for any set of tees. The strokes off the low calculator takes a list of players and shows who gets how many strokes and on which holes.