A Beginners Guide Golf Scoring and Calculating a Golf Handicap

In golf a handicap is essentially the rating of ahope to go round the course in six shots more
player's skill in relation to the par for the course.than the course par. Men can generally have a
For the novice golfer, it is very important tomaximum handicap of 28 even if they take more
understand the terminology and to know how tothan twenty eight shots over par. For ladies the
calculate their golf handicap.maximum is 36.
Let's start with a scratch player. A scratch playerThe Scorecard
is a very good player for whom the measure ofWhen you look at the scorecard you will see that
par is how he should play around the course, i.e. ifit is arranged in columns. The first column gives
the course is par 73 then he should take 73 shotsthe yardage or distance of the hole which is
to get around. If he is playing a hole of up to 250measured from the tee to the center of the
yards in length we assume he should hit thegreen when going down the middle of the
green in one shot and then take two putts tofairway. Next is the par of the hole which is
hole the ball. This hole is a par 3.followed by the stroke index. The stroke index is
Any hole between 251 yards and about 470a measure of the difficulty of the hole, with 1
yards is classed as a par 4, where a scratchbeing the hardest and 18 the easiest. After these
player will take two shots to hit the green,come columns for writing down your score.
followed by two putts. A par 5 is anything overThe local rules of the course can usually be found
470 yards and in this case we assume ouron the back of the score card, along with details
scratch player will take three shots to hit theof how to calculate handicaps for different
green, again followed by the regulation two puttscompetitions. The local rules give you instructions
to hole the ball.about out of bounds areas on the course and
If you add up the pars of all eighteen holes thissuch things as whether you are allowed to
will give you the par for the course. Any playerremove stones from bunkers.
who can go round in scratch will be either of clubSo now you know how to score, all that remains
professional standard or international amateuris for you to get out there and have a go. Good
standard. If you were a 6 handicap you wouldLuck!