What is the difference between a Handicap Index® and a Course Handicap™?

The index is your portable ability number. The Course Handicap™ is that index converted to the specific tee you are playing, using its Slope Rating™, Course Rating™ and par. The index travels; the Course Handicap™ changes with every tee.

Why is my Course Handicap™ higher than my index?

Because the tee is harder than standard. A slope above 113 scales your index up, and a rating above par adds strokes on top.

Does Parful calculate my Course Handicap™ for me?

Yes. Pick the tee when you join or are added to an outing and the app does the arithmetic from the tee's ratings. You never type the number.

What is the Course Handicap™ for a plus handicap?

The same formula, which produces a negative number. A plus player gives strokes back on the hardest holes first.

Is the Course Handicap™ the number of strokes I receive?

Not quite. Formats apply an allowance to it. Stroke play and Stableford commonly use 95%, four-ball 85%, foursomes 50% of the pair's combined total. The result after the allowance is the Playing Handicap™, and that is what goes on the card.

Handicaps and scoring

Parful runs this

Course Handicap™

Also called Course handicap calculation, Handicap for the course you are playing.

A Course Handicap™ is your Handicap Index® translated to the tees you are playing today: index times the Slope Rating™ divided by 113, plus the difference between the Course Rating™ and par, rounded to a whole number. It is the number of strokes the course gives you before any format allowance.

Formula: Index × (Slope Rating™ ÷ 113) + (Course Rating™ − par), rounded
Inputs: Your index and the tee's slope, rating and par
Range: Can be higher or lower than your index, and negative for plus players
Used for: The starting point of every net score and every Playing Handicap™
On Parful: Calculated from the tee you pick, per round, per player

Why the index is not enough

A Handicap Index® measures your ability on a course of standard difficulty. Real courses are not standard. A tee with a Slope Rating™ of 135 punishes a bogey golfer far more than a tee rated 113, and a par 72 with a Course Rating™ of 74.1 plays two shots harder than its par suggests. The Course Handicap™ folds both of those facts into your index so that the strokes you receive match the course in front of you.

The formula, step by step

1Multiply your index by the tee's Slope Rating™, then divide by 113. This scales your handicap up on a hard tee and down on an easy one.
2Add the difference between the tee's Course Rating™ and its par. On a course that rates above its par this adds strokes; below par it takes them away.
3Round to the nearest whole number. A .5 rounds up.

Two players with the same index can receive different Course Handicaps on the same day if they play different tees, which is exactly the point: the number is about the tee, not the person.

Try it

Course Handicap™ calculator

Enter an index and the tee you are playing. Type a plus handicap with a plus sign, for example +1.8.

Handicap Index®Slope Rating®Course Rating™ParAllowance %

Index × slope ÷ 113	14.05
Course Rating™ − par	-0.8
Unrounded	13.25
Course Handicap™	13
Playing Handicap™ at 95%	12

Rounded once, at the end. Parful uses exactly this arithmetic on every outing.

Plus handicaps and low indexes

A plus player has a negative index, written with a plus sign, and the same arithmetic produces a negative Course Handicap™. Instead of receiving strokes they give them back, starting on the hardest holes. A scratch player with an index of 0.0 can still end up with a Course Handicap™ of 1 or 2 on a tee whose rating is well above its par, because the rating minus par term does not depend on the index.

How Parful calculates it

Every tee Parful knows carries its slope, rating and par, and every player in an outing plays a chosen tee. The moment a player is added, the app computes their Course Handicap™ from that tee with the formula above, applies any club maximum, then applies the format's allowance to produce the Playing Handicap™ that places strokes on the card. Change the tee and the number changes with it.

If a club sets a maximum Course Handicap™, the cap is applied here, before the allowance, so a player off 38 at a club with a limit of 30 plays as a 30 and then receives whatever percentage the format calls for.

Worked example

A worked example: three players, two tees

Blue tees: Slope Rating™ 128, Course Rating™ 71.2, par 72. Red tees: Slope Rating™ 118, Course Rating™ 69.4, par 72.

Player	Index	Tee	Index × slope ÷ 113	Rating − par	Unrounded	Course Handicap™
Maria	12.4	Blue	14.05	−0.8	13.25	13
Tom	12.4	Red	12.95	−2.6	10.35	10
Sam	+1.8	Blue	−2.04	−0.8	−2.84	+3

Same index, different tees: Maria receives 13 strokes on the blues and Tom 10 on the reds. Sam gives back 3.

Rounding happens once, at the end. Never round the slope factor and the rating difference separately.
The rating minus par term is negative on both of these tees because each course rates easier than its par. On a championship tee rated 74.1 it would be +2.1.

Common variants

Nine-hole Course Handicap™: Nine-hole tees carry their own slope and rating, and the same formula applies against nine-hole par. Parful scores nine-hole rounds and places strokes across nine holes; it does not yet post nine-hole rounds for handicap.
Before 2020: Under the older USGA® system the rating minus par term did not exist and the result was index times slope over 113 alone. Older handicap tables at clubs still show that version.