Definition: "Net score" refers to a golfer's score after handicap strokes have been deducted. Put more technically, the net score is a player's gross score minus the strokes his or her course handicap allows to be deducted during the course of the round.
A golfer may have a gross score of 92 (gross score being the actual number of strokes played), but with a course handicap of 9. So 92 minus 9 equals the net score, in this case 83.
On an individual hole, the player may have played six strokes, but be allowed one handicap stroke via his course handicap. The gross score on that hole is six, the net score is five.
Net score is obviously a term used in relation to handicaps. If you do not carry a handicap index, then you need not worry about net score.
Related:
How to mark the scorecard when using net score
Return to Golf Glossary index
Also Known As: Net
Examples:
"I shot 89, but my net score was 76.""I had a gross 5, net 4 on No. 16."
