All About Handicaps

We get a lot of questions about handicaps from our members. Here is our attempt at making handicaps simple. If you'd like to get the official version of handicaps, visit the United States Golf Association Handicaps section.

Please contact our Handicap Chair, Joan Adamczyk, if you have any questions.

What is a Handicap?

A handicap:

• Allows golfers of different abilities to compete against each other
• Is a measure of your potential as a golfer, not your average score
• Adjusts for differences in the difficulty of the courses you play, as well as for playing from different tees

As a member of the EWGA Chicago Metro chapter, you have access to two handicap systems which both provide an USGA Handicap Index.

Golf Life Management System

Free with your EWGA membership, you get access to GLMS, which offers you an USGA Handicap Index along with several tools to help you manage and improve your game. To activate your account, go to the Activate Handicap page on EWGA.com and follow the directions for activating the Golf Life Management System. You will need your EWGA membership number and password to access this service.

It’s that simple! You can post scores online and track statistics on your game to help you identify your strengths and areas of opportunity.

Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) Membership

EWGA Chicago Metro Chapter has maintained its membership in the CDGA for the benefit of those members who’d like to continue their membership. If you are already a CDGA member, you can renew your membership online at CDGA.org. New members must join through our chapter at a cost of $25.00. You can do that by sending a check for $25 payable to EWGA to:

	  Sue Evans, Billing Coordinator
	  1727 Cardinal Court
	  Wheeling, IL 60090-6901

As a CDGA member, you receive a membership card and ID number from CDGA plus additional benefits, including Chicago Golfer Magazine, access to CDGA tournaments, e-mails with your new index on the scheduled revision dates, and much more. For more information, go to CDGA.org.

The CDGA ID number is your ticket for entering scores into the CDGA computer system. Most golf courses have a computer station in their club house for entering your score. When a golf course does not have a handicap system on the spot, you can log on to the CDGA Handicap Information System to enter your score. It's expected that you will enter your score after every round, as long as you played according to the Rules of Golf.

One unusual feature of EWGA Chicago Metro, compared to other CDGA affiliate members is that we are a "club without real estate." This means that we always enter "away" as the course type. Also, you may enter a score for a 9- or an 18-hole round. If you enter a 9-hole round, the system will combine it with the next 9-hole entered to create an 18-hole round for your handicap calculation.

And it's easy to find out your handicap or that of any golfer you are playing who has a handicap with CDGA. Just go to the handicap lookup online.

When Should I Start Keeping a Handicap?

Under USGA rules, the maximum recognized handicap is 40.1, However, EWGA Chicago Metro Chapter is allowed to offer local handicaps (recognized at events within our chapter only) which go up as high as 56. Anyone can have a USGA Handicap Index. If you are an Advanced Beginner golfer, consider signing up and tracking your improvements by keeping a local handicap.

As soon as you have entered 5 scores into the system, you will have a handicap index that will enable you to compete in official handicap competitions, such as the EWGA Championship events. Your handicap index is based on an average of your best handicap differentials in your scoring history. To put that in English: each time you enter a score, the system computes a variance from par for your score, and this variance is related to the difficulty of the course. Once you have at least 5 scores, the system computes a handicap index based on a portion of your best scores.

Computing a Handicap Index

Once you have 20 or more scores for 18-hole rounds in the Handicap System, your handicap index will be based on the best 10 handicap differentials from your most recent 20 scores. However, as soon as you have 5 rounds in the system, you will have a handicap differential based on a smaller number of the best differentials:

Number of Acceptable Adjusted Scores	Differentials to Be Used in Computation
5 or 6	Lowest 1
7 or 8	Lowest 2
9 or 10	Lowest 3
11 or 12	Lowest 4
13 or 14	Lowest 5
15 or 16	Lowest 6
17	Lowest 7
18	Lowest 8
19	Lowest 9
20	Lowest 10

Entering a Handicap Score

When is your score not your score? There are some oddities to handicap scores. These rules are designed to make it a little harder for your handicap to go up, compared to going down. In other words, handicaps are used for competition, so they reflect your best potential scores, and not your actual average.

• When you have a really really bad hole (and it happens to all of us), you must reduce the score on that hole to an adjusted score. For more information, see the Equitable Stroke Control Adjustments Table.
• Incomplete rounds can count, too! For instance, if you are in match play and conceded a hole, you would enter your most likely score for that hole, and not necessarily the Equitable Stroke Control adjustment. And if you played at least 7 of 9 on a 9-hole round, or 13 of 18, you must record your score as par plus any handicap strokes to which you are entitled for the holes that were not completed. If you played 7 to 12 holes, you should enter a 9-hole round.
• And for the big hitters out there, there's even a way to record the proper score for a round when you have played the course from tees that were not rated for women. To learn how to adjust the slope and rating for tees that were not rated for women, see Adjusting the Slope and Rating for Unrated Tees

Equitable Stroke Control Adjustments Table

These ESC adjustments are just for entering your handicap score. You don't get to pass this off as your score in competition!

Course Handicap	Maximum Number of Strokes on Any Hole
9 or less	Double Bogey
10 through 19	7
20 through 29	8
30 through 39	9
40 or more	10

Adjusting the Slope and Rating for Unrated Tees

The two key factors in defining the difficulty of a given golf course are the slope and the rating. The slope is a calculation based primarily on the distance of a course, and the standard slope is 113. Courses with slopes above 113 are considered more difficult than the norm. The rating is the estimation of what a par or "scratch" golfer would shoot from a given set of tees on the course. There will be a different slope and rating for any given set of tees for women and men golfers.

Courses often have several sets of tees, and not all golf course are enlightened enough to have a slope and rating for women on any set of tees other than the forward most set. If you have played a course from a set of tees for which there is no women's rating, here's what you do.

First, calculate the difference in yardage between the set of tees you used and another set of tees on the course for which there is a women's rating. Once you have that total yardage difference, consult the table below to see what changes should be made to the slope and rating before entering your score.

Yards	Change in Course Rating	Change in Slope		Yards	Change in Course Rating	Change in Slope
0-8	0.0	0		621 - 638	3.5	7
9 - 26	0.1	0		639 - 656	3.6	8
27 - 44	0.2	0		657 - 674	3.7	8
45 - 62	0.3	1		675 - 692	3.8	8
63 - 80	0.4	1		693 - 710	3.9	8
81 - 98	0.5	1		711 - 728	4.0	8
99 - 116	0.6	1		729 - 746	4.1	9
117 - 134	0.7	1		747 - 764	4.2	9
135 - 152	0.8	2		765 - 782	4.3	9
153 - 170	0.9	2		783 - 800	4.4	9
171 - 188	1.0	2		801 - 818	4.5	10
189 - 206	1.1	2		819 - 836	4.6	10
207 - 224	1.2	2		837 - 854	4.7	10
225 - 242	1.3	3		855 - 872	4.8	10
243 - 260	1.4	3		873 - 890	4.9	10
261 - 278	1.5	3		891 - 908	5.0	11
279 - 296	1.6	3		909 - 926	5.1	11
297 - 314	1.7	4		927 - 944	5.2	11
315 - 332	1.8	4		945 - 962	5.3	11
333 - 350	1.9	4		963 - 980	5.4	11
351 - 368	2.0	4		981 - 998	5.5	12
369 - 386	2.1	4		999 - 1016	5.6	12
387 - 404	2.2	5		1017 - 1034	5.7	12
405 - 422	2.3	5		1035 - 1052	5.8	12
423 - 440	2.4	5		1053 - 1070	5.9	13
441 - 458	2.5	5		1071 - 1088	6.0	13
459 - 476	2.6	5		1089 - 1106	6.1	13
477 - 494	2.7	6		1107 - 1124	6.2	13
495 - 512	2.8	6		1125 - 1142	6.3	13
513 - 530	2.9	6		1143 - 1160	6.4	14
531 - 548	3.0	6		1161-1178	6.5	14
549 - 566	3.1	7		1179 - 1196	6.6	14
567 - 584	3.2	7		1197 - 1214	6.7	14
585 - 602	3.3	7		1215 - 1232	6.8	14
603 - 620	3.4	7		1233 - 1250	6.9	15

Assigning Handicap Strokes in Competition

There are two main kinds of golf competition using handicaps: stroke play and match play. In stroke play, the player with the fewest net strokes on the entire round wins. In match play, the player with the fewest net strokes on a given hole wins that hole.

First you must determine your course handicap -- this is a calculation that combines your handicap index from CDGA with the slope of the particular course you are playing. At a course that is easier than the norm (slope of 113), your handicap will be lower than your index, and visa versa. All pro shops should have tables for computing course handicaps; however, they can also look up their course handicap using the USGA Course Handicap Calculator.

In stroke play, each player will subtract the course handicap from her total score to record her handicap score for the round. In match play, players compare their handicaps, and the player with the higher handicap receives a stroke per hole up to the difference in handicap between her and her opponent. For example, if player A has a handicap of 30 and player B a handicap of 23, then player A receives a stroke (that is, a one-shot advantage) on each of the 7 hardest rated holes on the course. Course scorecards indicate the handicap ratings for each hole, with 1 being the hardest rated hole.