With spring in the air and an increasing number of courses in the northern parts of the country opening up for the season, it’s time for a quick refresher on a few key handicapping and score posting terms.
Understanding this terminology gives you a better idea of not only how your Handicap Index® is calculated, but also how it can be used to have more fun on the course this season.
Score Differential™
When a score is posted, the score is converted into a Score Differential – a number that accounts for the difficulty of the course and tees played (based on the Course Rating™ and Slope Rating® of those tees). A score of 92 on a difficult course may be a more impressive performance than an 89 on an easier one, and it’s the Score Differential calculation that allows that to be reflected in the calculation of your Handicap Index.
To put it simply, 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.
Course Handicap™
Your Handicap Index is a portable number that represents your demonstrated ability, but it’s not the number you use on the course. When it comes time to tee it up, your Handicap Index needs to be converted to a Course Handicap – which represents the number of strokes you need to play to par based on the course and tees being played. For example, if your Course Handicap is 18 and par is 72, it means you’ll receive one stroke on all 18 holes and need 18 strokes to shoot a net score of 72 (a gross score of 90).
Most score-posting apps, including the USGA’s GHIN app, have a Course Handicap calculator built-in, which will account for the Course Rating, Slope Rating and par automatically.
Looking for a fun way to challenge yourself before every round? 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.
Most Likely Score
The final term is exactly what it sounds like!
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 key term is what allows scores from popular formats such as match play or four-ball stroke play to remain acceptable for handicap purposes.
So how does it work? 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 4 when you pick up, your most likely score would be 6.
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.
For more information or to learn more about the World Handicap System, visit www.usga.org/whs.