What Is a Golfer's Handicap?
Golf has always been lauded as a game that anyone can both play and enjoy, regardless of age or skill level. A golfer's handicap is a tool to track your ability and can serve as the ultimate leveler of the playing field. Taking into account a player's average score, a handicap allows a below-average player to compete with a good player across the same golf course.
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Definition
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A player's handicap represents her average score for 18 holes of golf. It is formatted to read as the total number of strokes over par she averages. Par is the "standard" score in which a hole is intended to be played--usually 72 across 18 holes. Therefore, if a player shoots an 85 on average, she is said to have a handicap of 13; her average round is 13 strokes over par, or +13. A handicap can be tracked by the golfer herself or through an automated program provided by her home course or club.
Benefits
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Maintaining an accurate handicap has several benefits for a golfer. First, it allows him to track his progress as his game improves, providing quantitative data to reinforce evidence of improvement. It also allows him to rate his play, on average, against that of his friends and peers. When they step out onto the course together, they now have a way to have a fair, competitive match, even if their skill levels are very different.
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Recreational Play
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When two players of differing skill levels want to create a fair match on the course, handicaps are utilized. If Player A is a 4 handicap and Player B is a 16 handicap, then across the 18-hole round Player A will "give" Player B 12 strokes (the difference between their two handicaps). This is done by subtracting one stroke from Player B's score on the 12 most difficult holes on the course. This way, the match becomes more a test of who is playing better relative to his average ability than who simply shoots the lowest round.
Handicap Versus Handicap Index
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While the handicap represents a player's average score and can be self-maintained, a handicap index is endorsed and monitored by the United States Golf Association through a complicated equation that yields an estimate of what a player is capable of scoring on his best day. The handicap index is also a useful tool when trying to account for varying difficulty across multiple golf courses, whereas a handicap normally uses a player's home course as the basis for evaluation.
Use in Tournaments
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Handicaps are not used to adjust the scores of tournament rounds, but they can still serve a purpose. Handicaps can be used to "flight" players in a large tournament to ensure that similarly skilled golfers go head-to-head across multiple levels. Handicaps also can be used as an entry requirement for some high-level tournaments. For instance, all golfers attempting to enter the U.S. Open must have a documented handicap index of 1.4 or less to gain entry.
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