Golf handicap calculator
Your World Handicap System index from your recent rounds, plus your course handicap.
About this calculator
This golf handicap calculator estimates your Handicap Index under the World Handicap System from your recent rounds.
Enter each round's score, course rating and slope rating. It shows every score differential, which ones count, and your course handicap for the next course you play.
How it works
Each round’s score differential is (113 ÷ slope rating) × (score − course rating). Your Handicap Index is the average of the lowest 8 of your last 20 differentials; with fewer rounds, fewer are used and a small adjustment may apply.
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Worked example
- One round per line, oldest first: score, course rating, slope rating: 92 71.2 128; 88 70.4 125; 95 72.1 131; 90 71.2 128; 86 69.8 121; 91 70.4 125
- Course rating of the course you will play: 71.2
- Slope rating of that course: 128
- Par of that course: 72
Handicap Index: 14.5 (from your lowest score differentials)
Common questions
How is a golf handicap calculated?
Each round gives a score differential: (113 ÷ slope) × (score − course rating). Your index is the average of your best 8 of the last 20.
What is a course handicap?
The number of strokes you receive on a particular course: Handicap Index × slope ÷ 113, plus the course rating minus par.
How many rounds do I need for a handicap?
Scores totalling 54 holes, such as three 18-hole rounds, are enough for a first Handicap Index.
Sources and further reading
The story behind it
Where the idea came from: The World Handicap System, run by the USGA and The R&A, replaced six different handicap systems around the world in 2020.
A golfer's index now means the same in any country. The slope rating, introduced in the United States in the 1980s, adjusts for how much harder a course plays for higher-handicap golfers.
Why you can trust this calculator
- It runs in your browser. Nothing you type into it is sent anywhere.
- The method is explained on this page, so you can check it yourself.
- Free to use, with no sign-up.
- Results are estimates, so please double-check anything important.
- Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll look into it.
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