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The reason we compute golf handicaps are quite clear-cut: they give golfers a score that's adjusted to our skill to play. This handicapped total then allows us to compete with presumably every other golfer, professional or beginner. For example, if my golf handicap is 12, and I want to challenge Rory McIlroy to a match, we’d compete using the handicap system. Obviously if I played Rory 100 times straight up, he will undoubtedly beat me 100 times. But my 12 handicap should even the possibilities. Based on my 12 handicap, I'd get a stroke on all of the twelve most difficult holes on the course, if McIlroy will be carrying a zero handicap, making him a "scratch" player. It is possible to own a handicap below 0, which can be known as a plus handicap. Since he is one of the top golfers in the world, he in all probability carries a plus handicap, which means that I'd get more holes where I would obtain a stroke. This handicap figure for each hole can be found within the golf card that has every hole been given a number beginning at one to eighteen. Number one is the hardest hole on the course, number 18 is the easiest. So now that you recognize the reasons you'd want to establish a handicap, just how can you obtain that number? You might believe it is pretty consistent, but it isn't. Probably the simplest, and by far your best way personally to arrive at a handicap would be to enter your numbers into a computer at your golf course. It keeps a record of your scores, and then tells you what your handicap is. But here's what is behind those information. In the United Kingdom there is a company that will officially registers golf handicaps called Elite Golf Solutions. For people who aren't club members they will issue a recognized golf handicap certificate. You'll forward your golf scorecards, or copies of them, and they calculate and update your golf handicap similar to a golf club would. They then forward you a plastic credit card sized certificate. It's also good that they maintain an entire statistical package for your entire game. Some courses such as St. Andrews Old Course require them before you step on the first tee. In the United States golf handicaps will be calculated using several variables. These would be the player's scores during his most up-to-date rounds, plus the golf course rating and slope from such rounds. Each course will have a course ratings score, usually between 67 and 77. This would be a number based on a "good" score shot by a scratch golfer. It will have a slope rating, that being a number between 55 and 155 which describes the comparative difficulty for a golf course for a bogey golfer (one over par for each hole). Both slope and course ranking is going to be given on every scorecard, and through a somewhat complicated formulation this course handicap is going to go into the golfer's handicap index. A golfer's handicap index is calculated using the average of the best ten differentials of the player's previous twenty rounds. If the course rating is 69.3, the course slope is 117 along with the golfer's handicap index happens to be 10.5, the formula is (10.5 X 117) / 113 = 11. That will be the golfer's handicap for the round. As I said earlier, it's easier to download your scores into the course computer to find your handicap and allow it to do the work. There are now computer programs that can figure your handicap as soon as you enter your score. But knowing what goes into the calculation can be fun, but much more complex than we probably thought. Read more about golf on http://golflonggame.com/ and http://golfshortgames.com/. Jim O'Connell is an avid golfer and writer living in London.
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