Golf Australia uses the World Handicap System (WHS) to calculate your official GA Handicap. This global system ensures your handicap is fair, consistent, and recognised at every affiliated course in Australia and overseas.
When you enter your scores, whether in a competition or a social round with a marker, the WHS adjusts them for course difficulty and automatically updates your handicap. Your handicap travels with you, whether you’re playing at your local club or teeing up internationally.
This system gives every golfer, from beginner to low-marker, a fair shot in competitions. It responds quickly to improvements in your game, and because it’s a global system, your GA Handicap is trusted everywhere you play.
Golf Australia uses a few key steps to determine your handicap:
- You play a round & submit your score
Every valid 9- or 18-hole score goes into your scoring record. - Your Score Differential is created
This adjusts your score based on the difficulty of the course you played.
Score Differential = (Adjusted Gross Score – Course Rating) × 113 ÷ Slope Rating - Your best 8 rounds count
Out of your most recent 20 rounds, the lowest 8 Score Differentials are averaged.
This ensures your handicap reflects your true playing ability. - Caps protect your number
The system includes controls to stop handicaps blowing out during a rough patch: - Soft Cap: slows increases after your handicap rises 3 strokes above your best 12-month form
- Hard Cap: limits total upward movement to 5 strokes
- Your handicap updates daily
Once processed, your scores update your GA Handicap overnight so it always reflects your current level.
NOTE: When a player is gaining a handicap a sliding scale of score differentials is used (see table below). As a result of this your handicap will likely fluctuate quite a bit as you’re submitting your first 20 round.