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 | 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% |
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.
