A golfers handicap indicates an amateur golfers level of ability based on each individual course and the tees played. Handicap systems aren’t used by professional golfers. A golfer with a higher handicap is deemed a poorer player than a golfer with a lower handicap.

Handicap is calculated by the number of actual strokes a player takes going around the course compared to the number of stokes deemed required for par. Handicaps are managed by the golf clubs themselves or by national associations but rules can vary from country to country.

In the UK, as in the rest of the world apart from the USA and Mexico, the R&A (formerly part of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club) is the judicial authority over the game and is based at ‘the home of golf’ St Andrews in Scotland. In the US and Mexico the game is governed by the United States Golf Association. The two governing bodies use slightly different calculations to work out a players handicap.

A handicap is designed to reflect the players potential score by taking the average scores of his / her previous rounds and therefore the handicap can be a constantly changing figure both increasing and/or decreasing according to the players continuing performance. Statistically players with a lower handicap (and therefore considered better players) are more consistent than higher handicapped players. The US Golf Assoc refers to this as the average best so that in a large competition the player who plays the best to his / her ability and not necessarily who takes the fewest shots will win.