Reading your GHINŽ Card

What Your GHIN Card Means
"Name" - Member's name and address. The Local Number is usually to the right of the name. "Club" - Name of handicap club. "Club #" - Club's USGA Number. "Effective Date" - Updated every 2 weeks. "Scores Posted" - # rounds this season. Posted-scores listing, * = Used to figure Index (Abreviations used): A - Away C - Combined (2 9-hole scores) T - Tournament score		"GHIN #" - Member's USGA ID Number. "USGA HCP INDEX" - Multiply this by the slope, then, divide by 113 (avg. USGA slope) to determine handicap. Number to the right of the index is handicap for member's "Club" or Home Course.

How can I tell which scores will be used? - Take your adjusted score and subtract the course's rating, then, the difference is multiplied by 113 and divided by the course's slope. The resulting number is called a differential.
Example:
You shoot an 88; the course rating is 71.4. The slope is 125.
88
-71.4
16.6 X 113 is 1,875.8
1,875.8 / 125 is 15.0064 - the handicap differential of that round.

Assuming you have posted 20 scores, the resulting 10 lowest differentials are then added and multiplied by 0.096. All numbers after the "tenths" are deleted (do not round to the nearest tenth), and this is the USGA Handicap Index.
Example:
The 10 lowest differentials add up to 154.8
multiply by 0.096 and get 14.861
delete all digits after the tenths and the Index is 14.8

With the Index, one can figure a handicap for any USGA Slope rated course. Just multiply the index by the course's slope and divide by 113, which is the average USGA slope. This gives the handicap for that course for that index.
Example:
Your Index is 14.8. The slope for the course you're playing is 131.
14.8 X 131 is 1,938.8
1,938.8 / 113 results in a 17 handicap for that course.

Adjusted Score: Your score after Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) has been applied. ESC determines the maximum number of strokes per hole allowed for figuring handicaps.
Convert your Index to an 18-hole handicap, and add 6 to the first digit of your handicap (Double Bogey is max hole score for handicaps below 10) for the maximum number of strokes allowed per hole.
Combined: When 2 9-hole scores are combined: the adjusted scores are added, the course ratings for each 9-hole course OR SIDE (both 9-hole sides of an 18 hole course have a separate course rating and slope assigned) are added, and the slopes are averaged.
Posted: If you have posted less than 20 scores, this table shows how many scores are used:
# Rounds # Differentials Used 0 - 4 0 5 - 6 1 7 - 8 2 9 - 10 3 11 - 12 4 13 - 14 5 15 - 16 6 17 7 18 8 19 9 20 10

The correct # of differentials are then averaged and multiplied by .96 to determine the index.

What Your GHIN Card Means