Golf Handicaps – Table and calculation examples

Below is the table containing the buffer and increase or decrease per handicap category. Based on column 2, the exact handicap, you determine your handicap category.

If a player makes a qualifying score on 9 holes, he has to add 18 Stableford points to his score to calculate his total qualifying score for that round. Persons with a handicap of 11.4 or lower are not allowed to do qualifying rounds on 9 holes.

If a player makes a qualifying score that falls in the buffer zone that is applicable to him, his exact handicap will not change (Art. 21.3).

If a player gets a Stableford score of less than his current buffer zone, his exact handicap will increase by 0.1 points (handicap category 1 - 4) or 0.2 points (handicap category 5) (Art. 21.4).

Example 1a (9holes):

A player with an exact handicap of 15.2 playes 9 holes and has a qualifying score of 16 Stableford points. He then adds 18 Stableford points to his score and thus has a total of 34 points. According to the buffers for 9 holes, he falls outside the buffer of his handicap category. His exact handicap is raised by factor 0.1 to 15.3.

If a player makes a score of 37 Stableford points or more, his exact handicap will be reduced by the reduction factor according to his handicap category times the Stableford points over 36 (Art. 21.5).

Example 1b (18holes):

A player with an exact handicap of 11.2 makes a qualifying score of 29 Stableford points. His exact handicap is then increased to 11.3. He then makes a qualifying score of 42 Stableford points. His exact handicap is now reduced with 6 x 0.2 = 1.2. His new exact handicap is 10.1.

If the exact handicap of a player has to be reduced with so many points that the boundary to a lower handicap category is exceeded, then the factor of the lower category is used (Art. 21.6).

Example 2:

A player with an exact handicap of 19.1 makes a qualifying score of 42 Stableford points. His exact handicap is now reduces as follows:

19.1 – (2 x 0.4) = 19.1 – 0.8 = 18.3

18.3 – (4 x 0.3) = 18.3 – 1.2 = 17.1

The exact handicap of a player can never be raised above 36.0 (Art. 21.8).

A player must, before a match, make sure that his exact handicap is fully updated. The player is responsible for setting his EGA playing handicap (Art. 21.10).