whats my handicap?

**clearwaterms** · September 30, 2008

i have what I hope is a fairly simple question.

What is my handicap?

I usually play 9 hole golf, due to a busy schedule playing 18 isn't very easy. I shot my best round ever the other day 11 over for a 43 on a tough exec course. I normally shot in the high 40's or about 15 over a side.

the last 18 I played I shot a 99 54/45 but it was an easy course.

I tried to do a online handicap system and just doubled up my 9 hole scores to get an estimate and I came in at 25. Does that sound right?

i ask because I see these people talk about 30+ handicappers getting 9/10/11 on a hole and I rarely shoot more then double bogey with a triple being the worst I have taken in probably the last 36 holes. But I almost never shoot par, I consistenly shoot either a bogey or a double bogey.

**brandon_mcg** · September 30, 2008

i found mine out by googling handicap calculator.

if i'm not mistaken i think the one i used had to be an 18 hole round and it needed a minimum of 5 previous rounds along with the slope and course rating from where i played.

there may be a way to calculate it from playing 9-hole rounds though
i'm sure these fine people can tell you a lot more than i can!

eistrar · September 30, 2008

Just add a couple of 9 hole rounds together to get an 18 hole score, do that a few times(3 or more) and then just find out your average over par score and then work out your handicap from there.

eistrar

**clearwaterms** · September 30, 2008

see, I play 2+ 9 hole rounds a week, either before or after work, but my weekends are usually to busy to play 18. I justed picked up my clubs after a 3 year hiatis in the end of july and have probably played 120+ holes of golf since. However only 1 was a completed 18, the rest were all 9's at lots of different courses.

I intend on taking lessons and lots of range time over the winter and have considered joining a league next spring, but I would like to have some idea of my handicap.

**clearwaterms** · September 30, 2008

Just add a couple of 9 hole rounds together to get an 18 hole score, do that a few times(3 or more) and then just find out your average over par score and then work out your handicap from there.

so if my average overpar score is say 25, does that make my handicap 25?

Is index and handicap the same thing?

**TinCupTampa** · September 30, 2008

so if my average overpar score is say 25, does that make my handicap 25?

That is a pretty good estimate for ballpark purposes. If the courses are "easy" then your index would be higher... If they courses are "hard" then your index may be a bit lower.

**Clubchucker** · September 30, 2008

No, no and no.

You cannot base your handicap on what you shoot, as strange as that sounds. As they say "not all courses are created equal". To determine a true handicap, you'll need the course rating and slope rating from the tees you play from. Then of course don't forget to factor in the "Equitable stroke control"; that is...depending on what your true handicap is, you can't take over a certain amount of strokes (that count towards handicap). If you're a 0-9 you can only "count" a double bogey towards posting your handicap. So if you get a 9 on a par 5, you have to adjust what you post to a 7. Here's a link explaining ESC:

http://www.usga.org/playing/handicap...s/esctest.html

Going back to what I said about slope and rating...an 85 on an "easy" course is not the same as an 85 on say Bethpage Black from the tips.

**Harry Longshanks** · September 30, 2008

so if my average overpar score is say 25, does that make my handicap 25?

I'm afraid it's not that easy.

A handicap index is a calculation designed to predict your scoring potential based on your past rounds. (Specifically, your best 10 out of the last 20 you've played. Or, if you only have 10, then those 10). It factors in your scores, the tees you play from, as well as the relative difficulty of the course you played (course slope rating) because someone who shoots par at Winged Foot from rear tees shouldn't have the same index as someone who shoots par from the forward tees at the local muni. The easiest way to determine your handicap index is to use one of online handicap index trackers. I like http://www.oobgolf.com/ because it is simple and has a good interface. You should also learn about Equitable Stroke Control so that your scores are accurately posted. EDIT: Clubchucker beat me to it.

**firstcut** · September 30, 2008

I would like to take a minute to confuse this topic a bit further.

If you have an iPhone, there is a scorekeeper app called "TeeShot" that will track your stats AND give you your handicapp. It's not cheap, but it's a good app and I would buy it again.

Good luck!

**clearwaterms** · September 30, 2008

I'm afraid it's not that easy.

for the purpose of handicap, lets say I took my 2 9 hole rounds a week that I play, can I just merge those and take the 18 hole score. Do I add the slopes together? Do I just take the stated slope?

so one particular course I play regularly has a slope of 111 from the whites with a rating of 35.9 My average score on that course is 48. so doubling that it's a 96. can I do that? not taking into account the rule that I can't count a score higher then a xx rule. I come back with a 25.2

**Harry Longshanks** · September 30, 2008

for the purpose of handicap, lets say I took my 2 9 hole rounds a week that I play, can I just merge those and take the 18 hole score. Do I add the slopes together? Do I just take the stated slope?

Any good handicapping program like oobgolf.com lets you input 9 hole scores and calculates your index based on those.

Note: USGA handicap rules require that you post a 9 hole score if you play 6 - 12 holes. If you play 6-8 holes, use the method described below to score the unplayed holes through 9. If you play more than 9, but less than 13, just do not record holes 10-12. Here are a couple of lengthy posts where I tried to describe posting scores when you don't play exactly 9 or 18 holes. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showpos...85&postcount;=2 http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showpos...87&postcount;=4

**Fat Slice** · September 30, 2008

for the purpose of handicap, lets say I took my 2 9 hole rounds a week that I play, can I just merge those and take the 18 hole score. Do I add the slopes together? Do I just take the stated slope?

The front 9 at a course may be rated differently than the back 9. That makes a difference.

**clearwaterms** · October 1, 2008

cool thanks. I will have to check that out sometime. I am not looking to establish a USGA handicap, just more of a barometer to others, as well as a performance indicator to myself. Handicap in my opinion can be used to judge your game by more then a round at a time.

**zeg** · October 1, 2008

If you just want to guesstimate it, your handicap should be a bit better than you typically play. The rule of thumb I've heard in various places is that you will probably play to your handicap one in 4 or 5 rounds. Of course, mine currently runs into the upper limit so I don't worry about it too much...

**Zeph** · October 1, 2008

I thought hcp was something everyone was familiar with, but apparently not.

It's not difficult at all. Don't think about scores in terms of shots, use your handicap. It's why you got one. Until you get a hcp of 0-2, your handicap matters. Use the index and slope on every course you play to calculate how many shots you can use. If you get fi. 25 shots extra, all 18 holes get at least one, on the 7 toughest holes (index 1-7) you get 2 shots.

You cannot guess what your hcp is, you have to establish it from your scoring. Of course, if you never used it before, play 3-4 rounds, or use some of your old scores. Calculate how many points you get (not shots, points) on each hole with a hcp of around 25. If you get an average score of around 36 points then you can use 25. In the future, always use hcp and slopes when playing, if you get 37 or more points you'll lower the hcp, if you get 34 or less, you'll increase it. The buffer zone vary some the lower you get. If you find a calculator on the net and got the points score on each hole you can to find your hcp.

Using the total shots during one round is not correct. The reason is that you get 2 shots on some holes and 1 shot on some. If you play 9 on a hole, the gross score will go very high, but you can't get less than 0 points on a hole, that's why you can't calculate a score from total shots only. You need to calculate it for every hole.

On a difficult course you can, with hcp 25, get 30 shots, while on an easy course you can get 20 shots. That's a big difference, if you only play by shots and don't take the difficulty of the course into account you'll never be able to use hcp effectively.

**tjy355** · October 1, 2008

i thought hcp was something everyone was familiar with, but apparently not.

? ? ? ? ? ?

**RemyM** · October 3, 2008

USGA handicap rules require that you post a 9 hole score if you play 6 - 12 holes.

You must play 7 holes to record a 9 hole score.

http://www.usga.org/questions/faqs/h....asp?FAQidx=10

**AlCzervik** · October 3, 2008

I use OOB golf, most courses are already entered in and you can submit 9 hole scores too.

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whats my handicap?

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