The golfer’s toolkit
Handicap calculator
Estimate your handicap from recent rounds, then work out the strokes for your next course.
This is a practice estimate, not an official Handicap Index. Use your golf association’s service for competition handicaps.
Before using this calculator
Check the box to enable the calculator. Your acceptance version and time are saved only in this browser. You will be asked again when you reopen the calculator.
Before you use the result
A few things to check
Which score should I enter?
Use the adjusted gross score from a full 18-hole round. If you have a Handicap Index, the usual hole-score limit is net double bogey: par + 2 + handicap strokes received on that hole. Before you have an Index, the limit is par + 5. This calculator does not apply those adjustments hole by hole.
How does the estimate work?
For each round, the Score Differential is (113 ÷ Slope Rating) × (adjusted gross score − Course Rating − PCC), rounded to one decimal place. With 20 rounds, the estimate averages the lowest 8 differentials. With fewer rounds, it uses the World Handicap System’s smaller-record table and adjustments.
Course Handicap uses the estimate × (Slope Rating ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − par). Playing Handicap applies the selected allowance to the unrounded Course Handicap, then rounds to a whole stroke.
Why might this differ from my official Index?
Your official scoring record can include exceptional-score reductions, soft and hard caps, committee adjustments, and treatments for 9-hole or incomplete rounds. This calculator does not model those. It uses only the full 18-hole scores and PCC values you enter, and caps the estimate at 54.0.
Read the USGA Rules of Handicapping for the official rules. For handicap definitions and further references, see our handicap guide.