Skip to content

Golf term

Course Handicap

Also searched as: Playing Handicap, handicap strokes, shots received, strokes given, stroke index

The number of strokes you receive on a particular course from the chosen tees. It is calculated from your Handicap Index and the difficulty of the course.

Your Handicap Index is the same everywhere. How many strokes it is worth on a course depends on its difficulty, expressed as Course Rating and Slope. On a hard course you receive more strokes than on an easy one. Clubs display tables for this, and many apps work it out for you.

The strokes are allocated to the holes, starting with the hardest. How hard each hole is shows on the scorecard as the stroke index, often in a column headed ‘SI’ or ‘HCP’. With 18 strokes you get one on every hole; with 20, two each on the two hardest holes.

For some formats, such as foursomes or four-ball, only a percentage is used. The result is called your Playing Handicap.