What Handicaps Mean

• A handicap is the number of strokes that are given, or "spotted," to a player in order to make the match closer. It is the same concept as giving an opponent a number of points when starting off a game in order to make the game more competitive. In this case, however, the handicap is based more on the player's own ability with the course and not on the skill level of the competition.
  
  

Skill Level

• The lower a person's handicap, the higher the skill. For example, a player with a handicap of five is better than a player with a handicap of six. A player with a handicap of 0 means that person is a "scratch" golfer. A player with a handicap over 18 is called a "bogey" golfer.
  
  

Using a Handicap

• At the end of a game, the players remove their handicaps from their final scores to determine the winner. For example, consider the case of a player with a handicap of five playing someone with a handicap of 10. They both shot 80. The first player subtracts five from 80 to give a final score of 75. Meanwhile, the second player subtracts 10 from 80 giving him a final score of 70.
  
  

Course and Slope Ratings

• While golf handicaps are calculated using a variety of methods, for the handicap to be official in the United States it must be calculated by U.S. Golf Association standards. To accomplish this, the USGA gives each golf course a "course rating" and "slope rating" that are then used to determine the difficulty. The "course rating" is a number between 67 and 77 that is assigned based on how a "scratch" golfer would perform on the course. A "slope rating" is a number between 55 and 155 that is determined by the difference a "bogey" golfer would have with the course in relation to a "scratch" golfer.
  
  

Calculating a Handicap

• To calculate a player's handicap according to USGA rules, a golfer must first determine the amount of differentials (or lowest rounds to count) determined on how many rounds of golf they have played on a specific course. (For example, a person who only has played five or six rounds of golf on a course can use only their lowest score rather than an average of a number of their lowest scores.) From there, the player must subtract the course rating from that number, multiply it by the number 113 and divide the total by the slope rating. (For example, if a player's lowest differential score is 100, the course rating is 75 and the slope rating is 120, subtract 75 from 100 to get 25, multiply that by 113 to get 2,825, and divide it by 120 to get 23.54, which can be rounded up to a handicap of 24.)