A Playing Handicap is the actual number of strokes you receive or give during a round, and it’s the number used for scoring in a game or competition. While it’s often the same as your Course Handicap, ...

Although there are enjoyable pairs and team formats in golf, the sport is inherently a solitary one. It’s you with sticks and a ball versus the golf course or an opponent on the golf course. Whether ...

Understanding how golf handicaps work is essential for fair play and for tracking your improvement. The World Handicap System™ (WHS), administered by Golf Canada, provides a unified and accurate way ...

Developed by The R&A and USGA, the World Handicap System (WHS) represents a major shift in handicapping that has united six handicapping bodies across the globe under one standardised system. WHS ...

The USGA and The R&A today announced the first update to the World Handicap System™ (WHS™) as part of an ongoing review of the Rules of Handicapping™ and Course Rating System™ with a continued ...

This essay (split into two parts) is a follow-up to a recent article that detailed my first time shooting an even par round. My first even-par round occurred in July of 2022, giving me a whole ...

In the weeks leading up to the holiday season and throughout January, equipment makers released several new sets of irons designed for players at every game level. New muscleback blades for elite ...

There’s an adage in journalism that says if both sides of a complicated issue are unhappy with a story, that must mean it was fair. This might best summarize the World Handicap System as well. There ...

The Long Game tracks the Handicap Index progress of four Golf Digest editors of different abilities throughout the 2024 golf season. Catch up on last month’s story. A month into this season-long ...

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf. Look, I’m not going to stand up here on a soapbox and profess that every golfer who ...

The 25-handicap was sweating. The 25-handicap was playing her club tournament, yes. But the 25-handicap was a 25-handicap playing her club tournament, and the 25-handicap darn near needed a towel to ...

In the golf equipment world, drivers are the stars of the show. Everyone wants to hit the ball farther and straighter, and with exotic materials like titanium, carbon fiber and tungsten used to make ...