Playing Handicap vs Course Handicap

Your Handicap Index lives in your app and travels with you. When you tee it up somewhere new, the system converts it using that course's Course Rating and Slope Rating. That conversion produces your Course Handicap.

On competition day there is often a second step. The format you are playing (strokeplay, fourball, foursomes, and so on) may mean you do not receive every shot your Course Handicap suggests. That adjusted number is your Playing Handicap.

Your Course Handicap is how many shots you receive on a specific course and tee. It is the same whether you are playing a medal, a stableford, or a fourball. Only the course, tee, and your Handicap Index matter.

You can work this out on the calculator on our homepage, or check the course handicap lookup in My England Golf before you play.

Your Playing Handicap applies a format allowance to your Course Handicap. See golf competition formats for how each format is played and the allowance that applies.

In individual strokeplay or stableford, the allowance is usually 95%, so your Playing Handicap is slightly lower than your Course Handicap. In a fourball it is 85%.

You are playing a four-ball stableford from the white tees. Your Handicap Index is 14.2, the course is rated 72.4/128 (par 72), and the allowance is 85%:

Once you know your Course Handicap, you can see which holes those shots land on using our interactive scorecard.