About Golf Handicaps

The purpose of the system has always been to attempt to level the playing field for golfers of differing abilities, so that those golfers can compete equally. For example, imagine someone whose average score is 92 trying to compete against someone whose average score is 72. Without a handicapping system, it can't be done.

With a handicapping system, the weaker player is given strokes on certain holes on a golf course. That is, on a particular hole the weaker play may be allowed to "take a stroke" - deduct a stroke - from his or her score for that hole. At the end of the round, the two players of differing abilities can figure their "net score" - their gross scores minus the strokes they were allowed to take on certain holes.

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