Using Your Golf Handicap on a New Course

Brad Snellings has more than a decade of experience as a business leader. He has excelled as a marketer over the course of his career providing screening services to churches, schools, and youth sports leagues. Outside of work, Brad Snellings enjoys playing golf. He plays with a 15 handicap in the Tampa, Florida, region.

Golfers can obtain their official United States Golf Association (USGA) handicap from their local club or a nearby USGA course. Handicaps are used to level the playing field among golfers of different skill sets. When playing on a course for the first time, players must first learn the slope rating for the specific set of tees to be used. The higher a course’s slope rating, the more difficult the tees. Next, golfers take this slope rating and divide by 113, multiplying that figure by their personal handicap. The resulting number, rounded up to the nearest whole number, is the player’s course handicap.

After a golfer has determined his or her handicap for a new course, the handicap can be applied in the typical fashion. If a player’s handicap for a new course is a 10, for example, he or she can subtract one stroke per hole for the first 10 holes. Players with a handicap exceeding 18 can subtract multiple strokes from as many holes as necessary.