Work out for free how many handicap strokes are given in match play — singles or 2 vs 2. No account, no round to set up: everything is calculated in your browser, and your entries are never sent or stored.
What the calculator needs from you
Handicap index
Each player's official index. It is course-independent and on its own does not yet tell you how many strokes are given on this course.
Course Rating (CR)
How difficult the course plays for a scratch player, measured from the selected tee.
Slope Rating
The relative difficulty for a bogey player. 113 is the standard value — the higher the slope, the more handicap strokes are given.
Par
The course par from the selected tee. The gap between course rating and par shifts the playing handicap up or down.
Tee
Course rating, slope and par always belong to ONE tee. If two players use different tees, each one calculates with their own values.
Handicap allowance
The agreed share of the difference: full handicap, three quarters or two thirds. In match play, two thirds of the difference is the most common agreement.
How the calculation works
Playing handicap = handicap index × (slope ÷ 113) + (course rating − par). The difference between the two playing handicaps is multiplied by the allowance and rounded to a whole number. The player with the higher playing handicap receives those strokes, spread over the holes with the lowest stroke indexes.
Worked example
Both players play 18 holes from the same tee: course rating 70.2 · slope 130 · par 72.
Player A, handicap index 12.4: 12.4 × (130 ÷ 113) + (70.2 − 72) = 12.5 playing handicap.
Player B, handicap index 21.8: 21.8 × (130 ÷ 113) + (70.2 − 72) = 23.3 playing handicap.
Difference: 23.3 − 12.5 = 10.8 strokes.
Two thirds of that: 10.8 × 2 ÷ 3 = 7.2 — rounded to 7.
So player B receives 7 handicap strokes on the seven holes with stroke index 1 to 7. At full handicap it would be 11 strokes, at three quarters 8.
Before you play to it
The result is the handicap for a private agreement. The final competition handicap can differ: in an official competition, the terms of the competition, the local rules and the committee's decisions always apply.