Golf Handicap Information

Each year Washington Golf publishes a Handicap Resource Guide to help aid our Handicap Chairpersons manage their clubs. In it you can find information on the World Handicap System, answers to frequently asked questions, tips on how to manage your club and information on the WA Golf Handicapping Department.

View 2021 WA Golf Handicap Resource Guide

A convenience of GHIN is being able to post where you play. GHIN associations throughout the nation share a common database that allow you to post where you play and have that score routed back to your home club.

A score is acceptable for handicap purposes if the round has been played:

• In an authorized format of play over at least the minimum number of holes required for either a 9-hole (7) or an 18-hole (14) score to be acceptable
• In the company of at least one other person, who may also act as a marker
• By the Rules of Golf
• On a golf course with a current Course Rating and Slope Rating, where length and normal playing difficulty is maintained at a consistent level
• On a golf course during its active season

If one or more of the requirements set out above is not met, the score is not acceptable for handicap purposes.

Authorized formats of play are listed in the table below and include both 9-hole and 18-hole scores:

Scores from rounds played within the boundaries of Washington Golf (WA Golf) between November 15th and the last day of February are never to be posted for handicap purposes. However, if you play a round during the WA Golf Inactive Score Posting Season in an area (California, Arizona, Hawaii, etc.) that is still accepting scores you must post that score as soon as practicable. During the Inactive Score Posting Season, handicap indexes will be continue to be updated daily provided an acceptable score is posted the day prior.

View a full list of Handicap Active and Inactive Seasons in the U.S.

1. Holes played and completed:
   Record score for each hole played and completed.
2. Holes played, but not completed, including when a stroke is conceded in match play:
   If you do not complete a hole, record the score you most likely would have made. Your most likely score cannot exceed net double bogey and can be determined using the following guidelines:

3. Holes not played:
   If you stop the match play round because one competitor has already won, record NET PAR on the remaining holes. You must, however, play at least 14 holes in order for the score to be posted as an 18-hole score.

Score Differential

An 18-hole Score Differential is calculated as follows and rounded to the nearest tenth, with .5 rounded upwards:

Handicap Index

A Handicap Index is calculated from the lowest Score Differentials in a player’s scoring record.  If the scoring record contains at least 20 Score Differentials, the procedure for calculating a Handicap Index is:

• Average the lowest 8 of the most recent 20 score differentials (which include any adjustments for exceptional scores and/or a Committee review) and round to the nearest tenth.
• Compute the difference between the average of the lowest 8 Score Differentials and the Low Handicap Index.
  • If the difference is greater than 3, the soft cap calculation is applied.
  • If the difference is greater than 5 after application of the soft cap, then the hard cap is applied.

If the scoring record contains less than 20 Score Differentials, the number of Score Differentials used is based on the chart below:

A Course Handicap is a calculation that converts a player’s Handicap Index to a number of strokes that a player receives (or gives) on any golf course with a Course Rating and Slope Rating. The formula for Course Handicap is below.

A Playing Handicap is a player’s Course Handicap adjusted for the appropriate event/tournament handicap allowances.  For event/tournaments where a handicap allowance is 100%, a player’s Playing Handicap will be the same as their Course Handicap. The formula for Playing Handicap and the recommended playing allowances for different formats are below.

Specific guidelines regarding preferred lies policies, more commonly referred to as “winter rules,” can be found under the Committee Procedures section of the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf. This is done in an effort to provide consistency during the inactive, or non score-posting, season. WA Golf encourages clubs to consider the following when deciding whether or not to implement “winter rules”:

• Such a Local Rule conflicts with The Rules of Golf and the fundamental principle of playing the ball as it lies.
• “Winter rules” are sometimes adopted under the guise of protecting the course when, in fact, the practical effect is just the opposite — they permit moving the ball to the best turf, from which divots are then taken to injure the course further.
• “Winter rules” tend generally to lower scores and Handicap Indexes, thus penalizing players in competition with players whose scores are made without preferred lies.
• Extended or indiscriminate use of “winter rules” will place players at a disadvantage when competing at a course where the ball must be played as it lies.

In addition, WA Golf rates all golf courses in accordance with The Rules of Golf. “Winter rules”, or any other Local Rules, are not taken into consideration.

WA Golf strongly discourages the use of “winter rules” or “preferred lies”, except under extreme circumstances.

VIEW THE WA GOLF PREFERRED LIES RECOMMENDATION