ScorchSuomeksiThe golf handicap explained
A handicap says how many strokes over par a player needs on a good round. Finland uses the World Handicap System, and your handicap is administered by your home club.
What the handicap is built from
Under WHS your handicap comes from your last twenty qualifying rounds. The best eight score differentials of those twenty are averaged, and that average is your handicap index. One bad round barely moves it. A good one does.
A single round’s differential accounts for how hard the course was, because the same 88 is a different performance on an easy course and a hard one. The differential is (113 divided by the slope) times (adjusted gross score minus the course rating).
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Handicap index | The player’s number, the same on every course. |
| Course rating | How hard the course is for a scratch golfer, in strokes. |
| Slope | How hard the course is for a bogey golfer relative to a scratch golfer. 113 is average. |
| Course handicap | The handicap index converted for one course and one set of tees. |
| Playing handicap | Course handicap times the format’s handicap allowance, for example 95 per cent in individual stroke play. |
Working out your course handicap
Course handicap = handicap index times (slope divided by 113) plus (course rating minus par). The result is rounded to a whole number, and it is how many strokes you receive on that course from that tee.
In practice you never do this arithmetic: the conversion chart is on the wall at the club and in your club’s own system. Knowing the formula is still worth it, because it explains why the same handicap gives different strokes on different courses.
What counts as a qualifying round
- The round is registered as a qualifying round before you start, and played under the rules with a marker.
- It is played from rated tees, and the score is submitted to your club’s system afterwards.
- In Finland scores reach the Finnish Golf Union’s handicap service through the club’s system, in many clubs via the eBirdie app.
- The maximum score per hole for handicap purposes is net double bogey: par plus two plus any handicap strokes on that hole.
- Nine-hole rounds count, and so do rounds played away from your home club.
Scorch is not connected to any handicap system. A round marked in Scorch does not reach your club and does not change your handicap. It is your own record of the round. Qualifying rounds are always submitted through your club’s own system.
Reading a handicap
In Finland a beginner starts at 54 after passing the green card test, and it comes down round by round as scores improve. 36 is a common milestone, under 20 is solid club golf, and scratch means a handicap of 0.
A handicap is not your average score. It describes a good round rather than a typical one, so your average is almost always a few strokes worse than your handicap. That is the design, not a fault.
Common questions
- How many rounds do you need for a handicap?
- You can be given a WHS handicap from a handful of rounds, but a settled handicap is the average of the best eight score differentials from your last twenty qualifying rounds.
- Does a social round affect your handicap?
- Only if it was registered as a qualifying round before you started, played under the rules with a marker, and submitted to your club’s system. Other rounds do not count.
- Does a round marked in Scorch change my handicap?
- No. Scorch is not connected to any club or federation handicap system. A Scorch card is your own record of the round, and qualifying rounds are submitted separately through your club.
- What handicap does a beginner start with?
- In Finland a player who has passed the green card test starts at 54, which comes down as qualifying scores improve.
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