Golf is a unique game in that anyone can compete with anyone else, regardless of skill level. This is thanks to handicapping. Handicapping is implemented via the World Handicap System. This system, ...

Your golf handicap isn’t just a number—it’s the key to fair competition and tracking your true playing ability. From understanding course and slope ratings to using GHIN for posting scores, knowing ...

Welcome to Stuff Golfers Should Know, a GOLF.com series in which we reveal all kinds of useful golf (and life!) wisdom that is sure to make you the smartest, savviest and most prepared player in your ...

The Rules of Handicapping include safeguards to ensure a player’s Handicap Index accurately reflects their demonstrated ability. However, under some circumstances it will be necessary for the Handicap ...

The number of golfers in the U.S. with a Handicap Index eclipsed the 3 million mark for the first time in 2022 as the year-over-year trajectory pointed upward for the third consecutive year. The ...

After you both convert your Handicap Index to a Course Handicap, you receive two strokes a side from your match-play opponent. Now it’s time to plot some strategy, based on a glance at the scorecard ...

Among the highlights of the June 2024 presidential debate was a lively back and forth between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump – about golf. Trump cited his golf skills as ...

As golf’s popularity has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic—3.3 million people in the United States played on a course for the first time in 2022, according to the National Golf Foundation—so too has ...

No, wait, there’s more. Play a bunch of golf this season, track all the highs and lows, and share how your progress is reflected in your Handicap Index. Oh, OK. So slightly more involved. Still, we're ...

You can find your golf handicap by taking the average score of the best eight of your last 20 scores. Use this equation to calculate your handicap for any course: Course Handicap = [Handicap Index * ...