Need to know how many strokes you get today? Enter your Handicap Index, Slope Rating, Course Rating, and Par in Section 1. Then select your format in Section 2 to get the exact Playing Handicap for every player in your group — Scramble, Match Play, Four-Ball, Stableford, Foursomes, and more. All calculations follow official WHS Appendix C allowances.
How to Use This Calculator
The calculator has two sections. Use one or both depending on what you need.
Section 1 — Course Handicap Calculator
This portion of the calculator converts your Handicap Index into strokes for the specific course and tee you’re playing. You need four numbers from your scorecard:
- Handicap Index — Your official WHS number (e.g., 14.2). If you don’t have an official number, take the rough number of strokes you average above par. Here’s a rough guide:
- You regularly break 90 → roughly a 10–18 handicap
- You regularly break 100 → roughly a 20–28 handicap
- You occasionally break 100 → 28–36 range
- You’re a beginner and scores are all over the place → 36–54
- Slope Rating — Measures course difficulty for a bogey golfer; ranges 55–155, with 113 as the baseline. Printed on the scorecard next to your tee color.
- Course Rating — The expected score for a scratch golfer from your tees (e.g., 71.4). Also on the scorecard.
- Par — Par for the tees you’re playing. Usually 70, 71, or 72.
Enter all four and your Course Handicap appears instantly, along with the rounded and unrounded values so you can see exactly how the math landed.
Section 2 — Playing Handicap Calculator
This is the number you actually use on the scorecard. Select your format, enter the number of players, and input each player’s Course Handicap. The calculator applies the correct WHS allowance for your format and shows a step-by-step breakdown of how each player’s strokes were calculated.
If you’ve already used Section 1, Player 1’s Course Handicap auto-fills in Section 2. Just add the other players’ numbers manually.
The WHS Formulas Behind the Numbers
Course Handicap Formula
Course Handicap = (Handicap Index × Slope Rating ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par)
Example: Handicap Index 14.2, Slope 128, Course Rating 71.4, Par 72
(14.2 × 128 ÷ 113) + (71.4 − 72) = 16.08 − 0.6 = 15.48 → rounds to 15
Playing Handicap Formula
Playing Handicap = Course Handicap × Handicap Allowance (%)
The allowance percentage changes by format. For example, in Match Play Singles, the lowest Course Handicap in the group plays at zero and all others receive the full difference — no percentage involved.
WHS Handicap Allowances by Format
These are the official Appendix C allowances the calculator uses. The allowance exists because different formats expose more or fewer strokes to chance. As an example, a Scramble inflates team scoring significantly, so handicaps are reduced accordingly.
Individual
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Stroke Play | 95% |
| Stableford / Modified Stableford | 95% |
| Par / Bogey | 95% |
| Maximum Score | 95% |
| Match Play Singles | 100% (difference from lowest) |
Four-Ball
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Four-Ball Stroke Play / Stableford | 85% |
| Four-Ball Par / Bogey | 90% |
| Four-Ball Match Play | 90% of difference from lowest |
Team
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Foursomes (Alternate Shot) | 50% × (Player A CH + Player B CH) |
| Greensomes | 60% × lower CH + 40% × higher CH |
| Chapman / Pinehurst | 60% × lower CH + 40% × higher CH |
| Scramble — 2 players | 35% (low) + 15% (high) |
| Scramble — 3 players | 30% (low) + 20% + 10% (high) |
| Scramble — 4 players | 25% (low) + 20% + 15% + 10% (high) |
| Best 1 of 4 | 75% |
| Best 2 of 4 | 85% |
| Best 3 of 4 | 100% |
| All 4 of 4 | 100% |
| Shamble (Best Drive, Own Ball In) | 85% |
| Total Score of Partners (Aggregate) | 100% |
Non-WHS Handicap Allowances by Format
These formats aren’t named in WHS Appendix C, so the allowances below are conventions used by the golf community at large rather than official rules. Where a format’s scoring structure mirrors a WHS-defined family, the closest Appendix C allowances were applied. Pure side bets and gross-only formats typically run at 100% Course Handicap with strokes applied by Stroke Index.
Individual Points & Quota Games
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Bisque (Match Play, Pick Your Spots) | 100% (strokes self-allocated, not by Stroke Index) |
| Chicago | 100% (Quota target = 39 − Course Handicap) |
| Eclectic / Ringer | 85% (best score per hole behaves like Four-Ball Best Ball; USGA points to ~85%) |
| Flags / Tombstone | Budget = par + 100% Course Handicap (play until your strokes run out) |
| Let It Ride | 100% (net points, strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Parzee (GGH Original) | 95% (mirrors the individual points-game allowance) |
| Quota | 100% (Quota target = 36 − Course Handicap) |
| Three Blind Mice | 95% (mirrors Stroke Play — three holes drawn at random) |
| Three Little Pigs | 95% (mirrors Stroke Play — drop your three worst holes) |
Team & Multi-Ball Variants
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| 6-6-6 (Round of Three) | 100% (or apply per-segment WHS allowance for each 6-hole leg) |
| Best to Next | 90% (Four-Ball Match Play allowance; second ball breaks ties) |
| Cha Cha Cha (1-2-3 Best Ball) | 90% (rotating multi-ball best-ball; common allowance per the guide) |
| Daytona | 85% (Four-Ball Stroke Play family) |
| Gruesomes (Bloodsomes) | 85% (Foursomes 50%-sum or Greensomes 60/40 also common) |
| Low Ball, High Ball | 100% (net, full strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Low Ball, Low Total | 85% (Four-Ball Stroke Play variant) |
| SWAT | 90% (best-ball team money game; adjust to your event) |
| Tug of War (Three-Point Game) | 90% of difference from lowest (Four-Ball Match Play family) |
| Umbrella (Six-Point Scotch) | 85% (Four-Ball Stroke Play family — own balls, team points) |
| Vegas | 100% |
| Wingman (GGH Original) | 100% (one partner’s net counts per hole — Match Play difference) |
| Worst Ball (Reverse Scramble) | 100% (max-strokes cap typical) |
| Yellow Ball (Money Ball / Lone Ranger) | 100% |
3-Player Specific Formats
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Defender (Rotating 1-vs-2) | 100% |
| Heads-Tails | 100% (coin-flip teams settle on net; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Nines (5-3-1) | 100% (lowest CH plays at 0, others receive the full difference) |
| Split Sixes | 100% (same allowance approach as Nines) |
| Tee Ball | 100% (net Tee Ball; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| The King’s Honors (GGH Original) | 100% |
| Threesome (Alternate Shot for 3) | 50% sum for the pair; solo plays at full Course Handicap |
Betting & Side Bet Games
| Format | Allowance |
|---|---|
| 18 Chips (GGH Original) | 100% (net per hole; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Acey Deucey | 100% |
| Banker | 100% (rotating singles matches — Appendix C Match Play allowance on each) |
| Bingo Bango Bongo | 100% |
| Bogey Tax (GGH Original) | 95% (mirrors Stroke Play allowance — scoring uses net totals) |
| The Bounty (GGH Original) | 100% |
| Bundle | 100% (net; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Dots (Trash / Garbage) | 100% |
| Draft 18 (GGH Original) | 95% (mirrors Stroke Play allowance — each player plays their own ball) |
| Flaps | 100% |
| Hammer (Doubling Match Play) | 100% (uses Appendix C Match Play allowance) |
| The Heist (GGH Original) | 100% (best net robs worst; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Low Putts | 100% (gross putts typical) |
| Murphys | 100% (skill-based side bet — minimal handicap impact) |
| Nassau | 100% (three Match Play bets — uses Appendix C Match Play allowance on each) |
| Poker | 100% (best five-card hand; net results by Stroke Index) |
| Rabbit | 100% (match-play side game; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Skins | 100% |
| Snake | 100% (gross three-putts typical) |
| St. James Roll | 95% (own-ball net points — mirrors Stroke Play; gross or net) |
| Three Fingers (GGH Original) | 100% (head-to-head on net; strokes by Stroke Index) |
| Wad (Putting Side Bet) | 100% (gross putts typical — pure putting bet) |
| Wolf | 100% |
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are printed on the back of your scorecard next to the tee color you’re playing from. If they’re missing, check the golf club’s website under course or tee information. You need the numbers specific to the exact tee set you’re playing — they change between the tips, middle tees, and forward tees.
Your Course Handicap is your Handicap Index adjusted for course difficulty — it tells you how many allowance strokes you get on a specific course from specific tees. Your Playing Handicap takes that number and adjusts it further for your specific format. In Four-Ball Stroke Play, for example, each player’s Course Handicap is reduced to 85% to account for the format’s scoring advantage. In Match Play Singles, it’s 100% — no reduction.
Because in a Scramble, your team always plays from the best shot. That structure alone significantly improves your team’s effective scoring ability. The WHS allowance compensates by reducing each player’s handicap contribution — in a 4-person Scramble, the best player contributes only 25% of their Course Handicap to the team total. The result is a team handicap that reflects realistic scoring expectations, not inflated ones.
No. If you have a reasonable estimate of your index, the calculator will give you a useful number. For casual rounds, that’s perfectly fine. For official competitions, you’ll need a verified Handicap Index maintained through GHIN or your authorized golf association.
In stroke play, strokes are distributed hole-by-hole based on the Stroke Index (SI) printed on the scorecard, starting from SI 1 (the hardest hole). If your Playing Handicap is 12, you get one stroke on each of the 12 hardest holes. If it’s 20, you get two strokes on SI 1 and SI 2, and one stroke on SI 3 through SI 18.
