Golf Handicap FAQ: How Do I Know on Which Holes to Take Strokes?

Golfers who carry handicaps need to apply those handicaps on the golf course. That means that on certain holes, you'll be able to "take a stroke" or "apply a stroke" - to reduce your score on a given hole. Say you played six strokes to get the ball into the hole on No. 12, but your handicap allows you to take a stroke on No. 12, so your net score is a 5.

But how do you know on which holes you get to do that? How do you determine on which holes to apply those handicap strokes?

Figure your course handicap, then compare your course handicap to the "handicap" line on the scorecard.

There should be a row (usually two rows, actually, one for men and one for women) on the scorecard labeled "Handicap" (or abbreviated "HCP"), and the numbers on that row represent the ranking of the holes for handicap purposes.

If your course handicap is "1," then you get a stroke only on the No. 1 handicap hole. If your course handicap is "2," then you get strokes on handicap holes Nos. 1 and 2, and so on.

So if your course handicap is 18, you get a stroke on every hole. If it's 9, you get a stroke on the top 9 handicap holes, but not on the bottom nine. If it's 27, you get one stroke on every hole, plus a second stroke on each of the top nine handicap holes.

Got it? (If you don't "got it," a more in-depth explanation can be found here.)

Return to Golf Handicap FAQ index