Golf Digest senior writer Alex Myers is on a one-year mission to see how good he can get at golf through daily training, practice and playing. Read more from his “Late Scratch?” series here.
The moment I set my sights on becoming a scratch golfer, I had to first clarify what that precisely means. This is the part a lot of people get wrong. You hear scratch and you might think I now need to average scores of even par.
RELATED: Use this little GPS hack to keep big numbers off your scorecard
In fact, my goal of achieving a scratch Handicap Index, while still ambitious, isn’t quite as daunting as it sounds, and a better understanding of the World Handicap System can explain why. Let’s address some common questions.
How do you get a Handicap Index?
Easy! You just sign up for one through your golf club or online. You will pay a yearly fee for it, but, again, it’s the best and most official way to track your progress. Plus, you often need a Handicap Index to play in competitions like club championships or the Golf Digest Open.
How is a Handicap Index calculated?
Your Handicap Index is based on your best eight scores out of your past 20 rounds. Except they’re not always your lowest scores, but rather your eight lowest Score Differentials. Go ahead, ask it . . .
What’s a Score Differential?
It’s a numerical value for a round based on a course’s difficulty and the playing conditions for that day. It’s essentially what Handicap Index you played to that day, and you see what your Score Differential was for a round as soon as you post your score in the GHIN app. Although, you just need to post your score, where you played and what tees.
So in addition to keeping track of what you shot and where, Score Differentials give you a mathematical answer to just how well you performed in a round that goes beyond more obvious scoring milestones.
Do I need to play 20 rounds to get a Handicap Index?
Actually, no! You only need to play 54 holes—three 18-hole rounds, six nine-holers or a combination of the two—to establish a Handicap Index issued by the USGA. And your Handicap Index will carry over from year to year if you keep renewing. For some, those 20 recent scores will come from the past month. For others, they might go back years.
So do scratch golfers average shooting even par?
Also no! A scratch golfer has a 0.0 Handicap Index (or thereabouts), meaning that their best eight Score Differentials from their past 20 rounds average out to zero.
So that means they average shooting par for eight of their past 20 rounds?
Not quite, but getting closer. This is perhaps the biggest misconception people have about the World Handicap System. A Handicap Index is not an average number over par that a golfer shoots, but a calculation that represents their potential over their past 20 rounds. Based on what course or which tees you play, often a score that’s a few strokes over par will still result in a Score Differential around zero or even negative.
You can have a negative Score Differential?
That’s right. Just like you can shoot an under-par score. Post enough negative Score Differentials and you’ll actually move past scratch golfer status and into plus-golfer territory.
Wait, negative Score Differentials can equate to having a plus-Handicap Index?
Yes. Just go with it.
Does your Handicap Index change after every round?
Not necessarily. In fact, it often stays the same unless your latest score is going to count as one of your eight best Score Differentials. Or, if one of your eight best Score Differentials is cycling off your card (remember, only the past 20 scores count). So, a lot of the time, your new score will not affect your Handicap Index. But over time, the more good scores you shoot, the lower your Handicap Index will go.
RELATED: You should be doing this if you want to get better at golf
Although I’ve long kept a close eye on my Handicap Index, it’s an even bigger focus for me this year as I attempt to whittle away those final few strokes. There’s no better way to track your progress as a golfer. And, technically, there’s no way to get down to scratch without having one.
While shooting (enough) low scores remains the ultimate challenge of my quest, at least it’s never been easier to keep and track your Handicap Index with the USGA’s GHIN app. Regardless of what level of golfer you are, posting your scores makes every round feel important. And having a Handicap Index is the best way to measure your game, from year to year to day by day—both against yourself and others across the globe through the World Handicap System.
So, anyone like myself with dreams of being a scratch player has their work cut out for them—but maybe not quite as much work as most people think. And no matter what your golf goals are, establishing a Handicap Index is a great place to start.
RELATED: Are you playing the right golf ball? Here’s an easy way to find out
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
