What is a handicap in golf?
I · Intermediate · Scoring and forms of play · 1 of 16Checked 14 October 2026
A handicap is a number of strokes taken off a player's score so that players of different ability can compete fairly. The score before it is applied is the gross score and the score after is the net score. How a handicap is worked out is in a separate system, not in the Rules of Golf.
How it works
- Scratch competition: gross scores count and no handicap is applied.
- Handicap competition: net scores count.
- Stroke play: the winner has the fewest net strokes. The Committee, not the player, works out the handicap strokes and the net score. A player does not have to show a handicap on the scorecard or add up the scores.
- Match play: handicap strokes are given hole by hole, following the stroke index the Committee sets, which is usually printed on the scorecard. The lower net score wins the hole.
- Before a match the players should tell each other their handicaps. A player who declares one that is too high, and does not correct it before the opponent's next stroke, is disqualified if it affects the strokes given or received. Declaring one too low has no penalty, but the player must play off it.
- The honour on the tee in stroke play goes by gross scores, even in a handicap competition.
Tricky cases
Does a player have to write the handicap on the scorecard?
No. The 2023 Rules removed that duty. A mistake in showing or applying a handicap on the card has no penalty.
In a match, the players forgot to apply a handicap stroke on a hole. Is the result changed?
No, unless they correct it in time. The agreed result of the hole stands.
Why the rule exists
The Rules put it in one line: handicaps exist "so that players of differing abilities can compete in a fair way".
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Rules of Golf | As above | G 3.1c; G 3.2c; G 3.3b |
| World Handicap System | How a handicap is calculated | C (not saved) |
| A Committee using Model Local Rule L-2 | The player is made responsible for the handicap on the scorecard | G 3.3b (note) |
From the rule book
The R&A and USGA Rules of Golf, Rules 3.1c, 3.2c, 3.3b(4) and 6.4b. Effective January 2023. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: Rules of Golf (PDF).