When two golfers with different skill levels play against each other, a golfing handicap is utilized to make them competitive notwithstanding their differences in skill levels. What this implies is that better golfers can play against average golfers and both will still have an equal chance to win.
The US Golf Association (USGA) created the formula for calculating each player’s handicap, but it cannot allot handicaps to every player, so the Association will license a “golf club” at a golf course, and that course will employ the USGA formula to calculate a player’s handicap.
For you to get a handicap, you want to first play 20 rounds of golf and give each one of your scores to the golfing course so it can figure out your handicap. You still have to turn in your scores even after the course has figured out your handicap, so it can maintain your handicap.
The method used to work out a golfing handicap is complex, which is the main reason why the USGA licenses courses before they can perform this task. If you want to approximate an unlicensed handicap, there are many websites that have handicap calculators you can use.
In working out a golfer’s handicap, the very first thing the course accounts for is the player’s raw scores for the 20 rounds. Once the 20 raw scores are provided, the course interprets them into altered scores, which are the total scores after applying Equitable Stroke Control (ESC). The ESC caps the best score a player can take on each hole. Once this is set, the golfing club figures out a Handicap Differential for the altered score. The Handicap Differential is the difference between the course difficulty, which the USGA allotted to that specific course, and the adjusted score.
These 20 differentials are then entered into a Handicap Index calculator by the licensed club and a handicap is formed. Once the golf club has a Handicap Index for one player, it can easily confirm the handicap for the player, no matter what course he plays. This is why players who play multiple courses take all of their scores, along with the score card that shows the slope and rating of the course they played on, to the approved golf course.
The way handicaps work can often be puzzling. Each golf course’s score card lists its holes, but the card also ranks each hole from the most difficult to the best. An example of this is when a number 1 is placed next to the hardest hole; a number 2 is placed beside the second-most-difficult hole; and so on till the simplest hole, which may have a number 18 placed beside it.
A 10 handicap player playing against a player who has a zero handicap (otherwise called a “scratch” player) will receive one stroke on every one of the 10 most difficult holes. A player with a 20 handicap playing against a scratch player will receive one additional stroke on all 18 holes along with one extra stroke on the two most difficult holes.
The golf handicap not only makes the game fairer and better to play, it permits golfers of different ability levels to compete against each other and still be competitive. This is among the reasons that explain why golf has become a very hip sport to play: anybody can play against anybody else, and with the founding of a handicap, even a less-experienced golfer can win some competitions.
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