Free WHS tool

Course Handicap calculator

Turn your Handicap Index into the strokes you actually get on the day. Pick your course and tees, and we fill in the real course rating, slope and par from a database of more than 24,000 courses.

Your course

What is a Course Handicap?

Your Handicap Index is portable. It is a single number that describes how well you play, and it does not change when you drive to a different course. Your Course Handicap is what that index becomes once you know exactly where you are standing and which tees you are playing, and it is the number of strokes you receive that day.

The formula

Handicap Index × (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating − Par)

Take an index of 12.4 playing a tee with a slope of 131, a course rating of 73.4 and a par of 72. The slope part gives 12.4 × (131 / 113) = 14.4, and the rating part adds 73.4 − 72 = 1.4, so the Course Handicap is 15.8, which rounds to 16. The same golfer moving to the forward tees at the same club, say a slope of 118 rated 69.8 against a par of 72, gets 12.4 × (118 / 113) = 12.9 minus 2.2, a Course Handicap of 11. Same player, same day, five strokes of difference, and that is exactly what the system is for.

It is why a group playing off different tees can compete fairly without anyone doing arithmetic on the first tee, and why the number on your card should always be worked out for the tee you actually played.

Course Handicap or Playing Handicap?

For a casual round, they are the same thing: you play off your full Course Handicap. In a competition the committee can apply a handicap allowance for the format, and the result is your Playing Handicap. The common ones are 95 percent for individual stroke play, 90 percent for fourball betterball, and 100 percent for most general play and society days.

The calculator shows all three so you can see the difference at a glance. If nobody has told you an allowance applies, use the full number. Handicap allowances explained goes through each format properly.

Course Handicap questions

What is the difference between a Handicap Index and a Course Handicap?+

Your Handicap Index is one portable number that travels with you, calculated from the best 8 of your last 20 score differentials. Your Course Handicap is what that index turns into at one particular course, off one particular set of tees, and it is the number of strokes you actually receive on the day. Play a harder tee and your Course Handicap goes up, even though your index has not moved.

What is the Course Handicap formula?+

Course Handicap = Handicap Index x (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating - Par), rounded to the nearest whole number. The slope part scales your index to how much harder the course plays for a bogey golfer than for a scratch golfer, and the course rating minus par part accounts for tees that are rated above or below their par.

Why does the formula include Course Rating minus Par?+

Because par and difficulty are not the same thing. A par 72 course rated 74.1 is genuinely two shots harder than its par suggests, so every player receives those shots back. This part of the formula was added to the World Handicap System so that players competing from different tees can play together off one set of numbers without any extra adjustment.

What is a Playing Handicap and when is it different?+

The Playing Handicap is your Course Handicap after the committee's handicap allowance for that format, for example 95 percent for an individual stroke play competition or 90 percent for a fourball betterball. In general play, and unless the committee says otherwise, you play off your full Course Handicap.

How do I write a plus handicap?+

A plus handicap is better than scratch, so a golfer off +1.4 gives shots back rather than receiving them. Enter it here with the plus sign and the calculator handles the sign for you. Depending on the tee, a plus index can still come out as a positive Course Handicap when the course rating sits well above par.

Where do the course ratings come from?+

From our own course database, which holds full per-tee scorecards for more than 24,000 courses, including course rating, slope rating, par, yardages and stroke indexes. If your course is not listed yet, you can type the three numbers straight off the scorecard instead.

Understand the numbers

Last updated 14 August 2026.