Have your ever asked yourself, “Why didn’t my Handicap Index go down?  Last week I had a really low score!”  If so, you are not alone. Handicapping is complicated.  Below is a simplistic explanation of how it all works.

Handicap Differentials

After every round you play, we calculate a handicap differential based on both your score and the USGA “course difficulty” factors.  Even if you have the same score at two different courses, the differentials will likely be different.  For example, my score was 108 at both Richland and Musket Ridge but my differentials were different – 34.4 at Richland and 33.6 at Musket Ridge.

Handicap Index

To get your handicap index, we take 95% of the average your three lowest differentials from your last six outings.  Below is a real-life example of what happened to my handicap index. My handicap index actually went up slightly from May to June although my June score was my lowest score in 2021. That’s because my lowest differential in my May calculation (Challedon) was no longer used in my June calculation since it was no longer one of my last six scores.

The green shaded differentials are the lowest three of the six scores considered and were used in the handicap index calculation.

Hopefully this explanation helps you better understand how your NIHGA Handicap Index is calculated. If you ever have any questions or concerns about your Handicap Index, please feel free to reach out to me at .