The 18 handicap golfer

The typical round

The benchmark model ties a typical score to par plus the handicap, 90 on a par 72. A Handicap Index describes the lowest eight of the last twenty differentials, so a 18 shoots 90 on a good day and three to five strokes more on an ordinary one. The table converts a 18.0 index to a course handicap on four typical tees and shows what a 90 is worth as a Score Differential from each, using the published formula: (score minus rating) multiplied by 113 and divided by the slope.

A 18.0 index on four tees

Where the strokes go

Broadie’s published finding is that about 65% of an amateur’s gap to a tour field comes from the long game, 20% from the short game and 15% from putting. Spread over the stated shot counts, an 18 handicap gives up 0.882 of a stroke on each of 14 long shots, 0.543 on each of 7 short ones and 0.095 on each of 30 putts. The category losing the most strokes is off the tee and approach, and by a wide margin.

In practice: from 150 yards in the fairway the tour average needs 2.945 strokes to hole out, and an 18 handicap about 3.827 on the model. From 18 feet the tour average is 1.840 putts and a 18 about 1.935. The per shot gaps are small; it is the same small gap on every shot that adds up to 19.

Where an 18 handicap loses 19 strokes a round

Modeled: the published split applied to the strokes over the tour average, on the stated shot counts.

Club distances

The handicap model puts an 18’s driver club head speed at 89 mph and swings every club at the same fraction of its tour speed, on the published tour ball speed and carry table. A driver carries about 209 yards and a 7 iron 131 yards. Every club has its own page at each handicap step under club distances.

Every club for an 18 handicap

What par asks

A drive of 226 yards on a 400 yard par 4 leaves 174 yards, and from there the tour average needs 3.050 strokes to hole out; an 18 handicap needs about 3.932 on the model. Par from there is already better than the average player manages, which is why bogey is not a failure on a 400 yard hole and a par is a stroke gained.

Getting to 13

Moving from 18 to a 13 handicap removes 5 strokes a round. On the published split that is 3.3 from the long game, 1.0 from the short game and 0.8 from putting, and the long game share is why practice time on the putting green rarely moves a handicap. The mistakes below each cost a full stroke on the published baseline; one fewer per round is most of the way to the next band.

Whole stroke mistakes, priced

In PinFlag

PinFlag measures the round the way this page describes it: every shot you log is priced by category against the published tables, and a handicap level benchmark lens reprices the same shots so a 18 reads gains and losses on an 18’s scale rather than a tour player’s. Score Killers totals the three-putts, two-chips, penalties and doubles that cost whole strokes, which is where the 5 strokes to the next band usually hide.

On the course PinFlag prices every target before you swing, with your own dispersion drawn on the hole by Shot Cloud, so the decisions that separate a 18 from a 13 handicap are made with the number in front of you.

Related

• The 17 handicap golfer
• The 19 handicap golfer
• Shooting 90 in golf
• Golf handicap chart
• Strokes gained by handicap
• Golf handicap calculator

Sources

• World Handicap System, Wikipedia
• Handicap (golf), Wikipedia
• Mark Broadie, Columbia Business School (Wikidata entity)
• How PinFlag calculates strokes gained

Every figure on this page is computed from the published baselines, the same ones PinFlag prices your shots with. The scope of the figures: The score and split come from the site’s benchmark model, which applies Broadie’s published shares to par plus the handicap; the course handicaps use the published formula on typical tee values, and the distances come from the handicap speed model.