Handicap allowance

Strokes on Which Holes: 20

See where 20 match-play handicap strokes fall on an illustrative 18-hole card: one stroke per stroke-index cycle, then repeats.

Strokes on which holes 20 shows how 20 positive match-play strokes distribute across this page's illustrative 18-hole stroke-index card. R&A Rule 3.2c says handicap strokes are given by hole; this draft's repeated-cycle convention is clearly illustrative, not a real course allocation.

Page type: Computed handicap worked example

Free tool: Open the calculator →

Illustrative 18-hole allocation

For N = 20, each hole receives floor(N/18) strokes, then Stroke Index values 1 through N mod 18 receive one additional stroke. The model maps Hole 1 to Stroke Index 1 through Hole 18 to Stroke Index 18 only to make the lookup reproducible.

When strokes exceed 18

Strokes repeat after the first 18: every full cycle gives one more stroke on every hole, then the remainder starts at Stroke Index 1. This is a positive-stroke illustration, so it does not represent the different treatment required for plus Playing Handicaps.

Authority and scope

Appendix C states that the National Association establishes handicap allowances, or may delegate that responsibility, and that a Committee should specify the allowance in the Terms of Competition. An authorised national, regional, club, or event procedure therefore controls. Do not transplant this illustrative result as a universal arbitrary rule for house games.

Table

HoleIllustrative Stroke IndexStrokes Received
112
222
331
441
551
661
771
881
991
10101
11111
12121
13131
14141
15151
16161
17171
18181

Worked example

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Rule reference: [object Object]

Sources: www.usga.org

Common questions

How does this page decide the holes?

It uses the supplied illustrative model: Hole 1 has Stroke Index 1 through Hole 18 has Stroke Index 18, and it distributes all 20 positive match-play strokes across that card. It is not a replacement for a course's published stroke indexes.

What happens after 18 strokes?

The model gives every hole one stroke for each full 18-stroke cycle, then gives the remainder to Stroke Index 1 upward. With 20 strokes that is 1 full cycle (one stroke on every hole) plus 2 more on Stroke Index 1 through 2.

Does this page set an event's stroke procedure?

No. The authorised National Association, Committee Terms of Competition, and actual scorecard control; this is a transparent lookup convention for a draft data pack showing how 20 strokes land, not an event's stroke procedure.

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