Calculating Handicap Without Slope or Rating

[Mattplusness]

Is it possible to calculate a handicap without a slope or rating? I play a great variety of courses which all are par 70-72, but half or so do not have a slop or rating.

[Mrd19abhs]

No there isnt a way to caculate an offical hc without slope and rating

[alf174]

Is it possible to calculate a handicap without a slope or rating? I play a great variety of courses which all are par 70-72, but half or so do not have a slop or rating.

which courses?

[Fourputt]

Is it possible to calculate a handicap without a slope or rating? I play a great variety of courses which all are par 70-72, but half or so do not have a slop or rating.

It's hard for me to believe that there would be that many regulation courses in the Detroit area which have never been rated for handicap. Even my father-in-law's little 9 hole rural course out in the boondocks of northeastern Colorado has been rated. Anyway, no, you can't determine an accurate handicap without those numbers.

You need the course rating to calculate the differential (your score minus course rating times 113/course slope = differential) which is used in figuring your handicap index (average of lowest 10 of last 20 differentials times .96 = index). Then you need the slope to convert your index into a course handicap (index times course slope / 113 = course handicap).

[zeg]

You can try to look them up here: http://63.240.106.223/NCRDB/ (sorry for the bare IP address in the URL, for some reason that's what the USGA web site lists; if you don't want to trust my link, go to http://www.usga.org , click the "Handicapping" tab at the top, then choose "Course Ratings and Calculators." On that page there's a link to "Course Rating Database" which is what I've linked above)

If they don't have them, about the best you can do easily is assume rating=par and slope=120; that'll likely get you an estimate within about 10% of your true handicap. (113 is the supposed to be the "median" slope, so one could also argue in favor of that, but most of the courses I've seen around here are somewhat higher slope and few are lower except for the very forward tees; the 120 gives you some room to be wrong high or low) You could also dig through the USGA handicap manual and use the course length to estimate its ratings, but that's probably more effort than it's worth.

[alf174]

It's hard for me to believe that there would be that many regulation courses in the Detroit area which have never been rated for handicap.

You're right there isn't. And I have almost every course in the area along with rating & slope recorded in Intelligolf so if he would name them I'll look them up and list them. If I don't have them, GAM (

Golf Association of Michigan) , the USGA ruling body here, does.

[Mattplusness]

which courses?

Well there is Woodside Meadows, Carleton Glen, Wesburn, and Wyandotte Shores (9 hole). I keep trying to think of another but I can't think of it.

[alf174]

Well there is Woodside Meadows, Carleton Glen, Wesburn, and Wyandotte Shores (9 hole). I keep trying to think of another but I can't think of it.

Carleton Glen - Back 70/114, Middle 69.2/112, Forward 70.9/112

Wesburn - Blue 69/129 Wyandotte - Champ tees 35.6/126, Back tee 34.3/123, Middle 33.4/112 Can't find anything on Woodside (I played a fun 9 there last Friday). They do have a good fish fry on Friday nites.

[Shripe]

I would also note that the National Course Rating Database is likely not inclusive of all courses they've rated. I did a search for specific course names and cities, as well as the simple search of the entire state of Wisconsin, and only one course appears for all of Wisconsin. I certainly know other courses have been rated.

[Mattplusness]

Carleton Glen - Back 70/114, Middle 69.2/112, Forward 70.9/112

Thanks alot man. I like Woodside, it's really laid back there, and pretty cheap as well.

[Dannyp]

Okay, I'm sorry but I'm still confused.  I entered my handicap to post my score on the USGA Handicap scoring system and it gave me a 34.  I shot a 107 today on a Par 72 golf course.  How do you calculate your handicap per hole or am I suppose to pickout the biggest handicap per hole and subtract that?  Please help          !

[BuckeyeNut]

Originally Posted by Dannyp

Okay, I'm sorry but I'm still confused.  I entered my handicap to post my score on the USGA Handicap scoring system and it gave me a 34.  I shot a 107 today on a Par 72 golf course.  How do you calculate your handicap per hole or am I suppose to pickout the biggest handicap per hole and subtract that?  Please help          !

You get 2 shots per hole.............excluding the two easiest holes where you only get 1.

[Th3R00st3r]

Sorry, let's see if we can clear this up. Gross score is what you actually shot. Adjusted score is what you post to the SCGA. Adjusted score would be the gross score minus any hole adjustments.Because the course rating was a bit harder, it calculated your hcp for that course to be a 34.. My example earlier, using the ESC you are a 34 for that course, you can't shoot more than an 9 on any hole. If you got a 10 on one hole, then you would subtract 1. Net score is your gross score minus your hcp for that particular course. Each course has a corse rating that is different for each course. The course you played may have been a bit harder so your hcp for that course calculated to a 34. So 107-34 =73 net. This would be used if you were playing in a net tournament game, not what you post. Post your adjusted score. Due to the course being a bit moe difficult, they basically gave you a few more strokes. My hcp is 21, but depending on the course rating, I could get 23. This helps me in my tournaments when we play for net scores for $. But I only post the adjusted scores.

[Dormie1360]

Just a little info on your Course Handicap.

Your Handicap Index (That decimal number that you get at each handicap revision date) is used to compute a Course Handicap for each course you play.  Actually, it computes a Course handicap for every tee you play. This computation is based on the Slope rating for the tee.

The "rating" for a set of tees actually consists of two ratings , a Course Rating and a Slope Rating . Only the Slope rating is used in computing your course handicap .  The formula is your Handicap Index times the Slope rating divided by 113.  The resulting figure is rounded off to the nearest whole number.  .5 or more is rounded up.  This is your Course handicap for those tees.

An example of a tee rating would be 72.3/128.  The first number is the course rating , the second the slope rating .

The Course rating on the other hand, is used when computing Course Handicaps between competitors playing from different Tee boxes.  This also is used when playing in a mixed competition.  (Ladies and Men).  If your playing against your buddy and are using different tees, there is more involved than just looking up your handicaps for the tees your playing.

If you're interested on how to do this, the brochure "players competing from different tees" at this link should help.

http://www.usga.org/handicapping/publications/Handicap-Committee-Chair-Survival-Kit/

One other bit of information.  The course rating is the score a "scratch" golfer should make on the tees being played during normal weather and course conditions.  The slope rating tells us how difficult the tees should play for a "bogey" golfer under normal weather and course conditions.

[Rehoward]

I live in The Villages Florida where we have executive par 3 courses with no ratings or slope for any of the par 3 courses. I only play these not the 18 hole courses because I play 9 holes every morning 7 days a week, most are par 29 and I play to an average of 32 a round. Can these be computed to give me approximate handicap?

[iacas]

On 10/14/2019 at 9:51 PM, Rehoward said:

I live in The Villages Florida where we have executive par 3 courses with no ratings or slope for any of the par 3 courses. I only play these not the 18 hole courses because I play 9 holes every morning 7 days a week, most are par 29 and I play to an average of 32 a round. Can these be computed to give me approximate handicap?

No. Not really.

Golf involves hitting all your clubs, including driver, which is why there's a minimum yardage for a course rating.

[Buckeyebowman]

I was pretty good as "guesstimating" my handicap, but it was in no way official! When I became a member here I guessed my handicap at 13 as you will see in my avatar. Then, I wanted to enter a local tournament sponsored by the local newspaper, and needed an official HI, so I signed up for GHIN and started posting scores. I wound up at a 13.4, so pretty close. 

Unfortunately, the local paper went out of business, so I have no idea if there will be a tournament next year. If there isn't, I'll drop the GHIN subscription.