Adjusted gross score is the score that golfers who have USGA Handicap Indexes turn in for handicap purposes. Golfers who don’t have a USGA Handicap Index don’t need to worry about or use adjusted gross scores.
An adjusted gross score in golf is one that is computed using the per-hole maximum scores described in the USGA’s equitable stroke control (ESC) guidelines. Sounds complicated, but don’t worry: the gist of it is that the USGA puts a limit on how high a score a golfer can take on an individual hole during a handicap round.
How Adjusted Gross Score Is Used in Golf
Again, you need concern yourself with the adjusted gross score only if you have a USGA Handicap Index.
USGA Handicap Indexes are calculated using a golfer’s 20 most recent rounds of golf. Golfers who have handicaps report their scores following the round. In the USGA handicap calculation, however, golfers don’t report their gross scores (the actual number of strokes played), but their adjusted gross scores. And those adjusted gross scores are used to calculate handicap.
How to Get Your Adjusted Gross Score
First, you have to know your course handicap for the golf course being played. Then, you need to consult the equitable stroke control guidelines, which tell golfers what the maximum single-hole score they can report is for a round turned in for USGA handicap purposes.
Luckily, there’s a chart. Here are the per-hole maximums under ESC:
Course Handicap Maximum Score
0-9 Double Bogey
10-19 7
20-29 8
30-39 9
40 or more 10
So let’s say Golfer A has a course handicap of 17. She knows from this chart that the score she turns in for handicap purposes can’t contain any holes with scores higher than 7. But, whoops, Golfer A got a 9 on the sixth hole. Ouch!
That 9 counts—she doesn’t get to ignore it. If she’s playing in a tournament, or playing against a friend or wagering on her round, that 9 is what matters. That’s her gross score on Hole 6.
But after the round, when she turns in her score for handicap purposes, that 9 becomes a 7. The 7 is her adjusted gross score for Hole 6, and that’s what she uses when reporting her score for handicaps.
What’s the Point of All That?
The purpose of the USGA Handicap System (or any other golf handicap system) is not just to tell you what your average golf score is, but to represent your potential for scoring. When you are playing at your best, what is your level of play, your potential best scoring? That’s what handicaps seek to represent.
And a blow-up hole, or disaster hole—that 9 above, a 12 here, a 10 there—can throw off one’s handicap. The USGA’s answer to that is to impose the maximum per-hole scores in the ESC guidelines and to require golfers to report their adjusted gross scores, rather than actual scores, for handicap purposes.
Equitable Stroke Control in Golf and Maximum Scores Per Hole
How Golf Handicaps Work: Overview of Their Role and Function
What You Need to Know About Golf’s World Handicap System
What Is the Highest Handicap a Golfer Can Have?
Explaining ‘Gross Score’ In Golf
How Is Golf Handicap Index Calculated? Here’s the Formula
Course Handicap: What Is It and How Is It Used?
How the System 36 Handicap Formula Works in Golf
Golf Calculators to Estimate Your Handicap
What Is a Scratch Golfer?
Explaining the Peoria Scoring System and ‘Handicap’
How to Allocate Handicap Strokes in Golf Match Play
How to Play an Eclectic Tournament in Golf
Here’s How Stroke Play Works in Golf
Do You Have to Join a Club to Get a USGA Handicap Index?
Golf Handicap: Which Holes to Play
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When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Cookies Settings Reject All Accept Cookies
Adjusted gross score is the score that golfers who have USGA Handicap Indexes turn in for handicap purposes. Golfers who don’t have a USGA Handicap Index don’t need to worry about or use adjusted gross scores.
An adjusted gross score in golf is one that is computed using the per-hole maximum scores described in the USGA’s equitable stroke control (ESC) guidelines. Sounds complicated, but don’t worry: the gist of it is that the USGA puts a limit on how high a score a golfer can take on an individual hole during a handicap round.
How Adjusted Gross Score Is Used in Golf
Again, you need concern yourself with the adjusted gross score only if you have a USGA Handicap Index.
USGA Handicap Indexes are calculated using a golfer’s 20 most recent rounds of golf. Golfers who have handicaps report their scores following the round. In the USGA handicap calculation, however, golfers don’t report their gross scores (the actual number of strokes played), but their adjusted gross scores. And those adjusted gross scores are used to calculate handicap.
How to Get Your Adjusted Gross Score
First, you have to know your course handicap for the golf course being played. Then, you need to consult the equitable stroke control guidelines, which tell golfers what the maximum single-hole score they can report is for a round turned in for USGA handicap purposes.
Luckily, there’s a chart. Here are the per-hole maximums under ESC:
Course Handicap Maximum Score
0-9 Double Bogey
10-19 7
20-29 8
30-39 9
40 or more 10
So let’s say Golfer A has a course handicap of 17. She knows from this chart that the score she turns in for handicap purposes can’t contain any holes with scores higher than 7. But, whoops, Golfer A got a 9 on the sixth hole. Ouch!
That 9 counts—she doesn’t get to ignore it. If she’s playing in a tournament, or playing against a friend or wagering on her round, that 9 is what matters. That’s her gross score on Hole 6.
But after the round, when she turns in her score for handicap purposes, that 9 becomes a 7. The 7 is her adjusted gross score for Hole 6, and that’s what she uses when reporting her score for handicaps.
What’s the Point of All That?
The purpose of the USGA Handicap System (or any other golf handicap system) is not just to tell you what your average golf score is, but to represent your potential for scoring. When you are playing at your best, what is your level of play, your potential best scoring? That’s what handicaps seek to represent.
And a blow-up hole, or disaster hole—that 9 above, a 12 here, a 10 there—can throw off one’s handicap. The USGA’s answer to that is to impose the maximum per-hole scores in the ESC guidelines and to require golfers to report their adjusted gross scores, rather than actual scores, for handicap purposes.
Equitable Stroke Control in Golf and Maximum Scores Per Hole
How Golf Handicaps Work: Overview of Their Role and Function
What You Need to Know About Golf’s World Handicap System
What Is the Highest Handicap a Golfer Can Have?
Explaining ‘Gross Score’ In Golf
How Is Golf Handicap Index Calculated? Here’s the Formula
Course Handicap: What Is It and How Is It Used?
How the System 36 Handicap Formula Works in Golf
Golf Calculators to Estimate Your Handicap
What Is a Scratch Golfer?
Explaining the Peoria Scoring System and ‘Handicap’
How to Allocate Handicap Strokes in Golf Match Play
How to Play an Eclectic Tournament in Golf
Here’s How Stroke Play Works in Golf
Do You Have to Join a Club to Get a USGA Handicap Index?
Golf Handicap: Which Holes to Play
When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Cookies Settings Reject All Accept Cookies
Adjusted gross score is the score that golfers who have USGA Handicap Indexes turn in for handicap purposes. Golfers who don’t have a USGA Handicap Index don’t need to worry about or use adjusted gross scores.
An adjusted gross score in golf is one that is computed using the per-hole maximum scores described in the USGA’s equitable stroke control (ESC) guidelines. Sounds complicated, but don’t worry: the gist of it is that the USGA puts a limit on how high a score a golfer can take on an individual hole during a handicap round.
How Adjusted Gross Score Is Used in Golf
Again, you need concern yourself with the adjusted gross score only if you have a USGA Handicap Index.
USGA Handicap Indexes are calculated using a golfer’s 20 most recent rounds of golf. Golfers who have handicaps report their scores following the round. In the USGA handicap calculation, however, golfers don’t report their gross scores (the actual number of strokes played), but their adjusted gross scores. And those adjusted gross scores are used to calculate handicap.
How to Get Your Adjusted Gross Score
First, you have to know your course handicap for the golf course being played. Then, you need to consult the equitable stroke control guidelines, which tell golfers what the maximum single-hole score they can report is for a round turned in for USGA handicap purposes.
Luckily, there’s a chart. Here are the per-hole maximums under ESC:
Course Handicap Maximum Score
0-9 Double Bogey
10-19 7
20-29 8
30-39 9
40 or more 10
So let’s say Golfer A has a course handicap of 17. She knows from this chart that the score she turns in for handicap purposes can’t contain any holes with scores higher than 7. But, whoops, Golfer A got a 9 on the sixth hole. Ouch!
That 9 counts—she doesn’t get to ignore it. If she’s playing in a tournament, or playing against a friend or wagering on her round, that 9 is what matters. That’s her gross score on Hole 6.
But after the round, when she turns in her score for handicap purposes, that 9 becomes a 7. The 7 is her adjusted gross score for Hole 6, and that’s what she uses when reporting her score for handicaps.
What’s the Point of All That?
The purpose of the USGA Handicap System (or any other golf handicap system) is not just to tell you what your average golf score is, but to represent your potential for scoring. When you are playing at your best, what is your level of play, your potential best scoring? That’s what handicaps seek to represent.
And a blow-up hole, or disaster hole—that 9 above, a 12 here, a 10 there—can throw off one’s handicap. The USGA’s answer to that is to impose the maximum per-hole scores in the ESC guidelines and to require golfers to report their adjusted gross scores, rather than actual scores, for handicap purposes.
Adjusted gross score is the score that golfers who have USGA Handicap Indexes turn in for handicap purposes. Golfers who don’t have a USGA Handicap Index don’t need to worry about or use adjusted gross scores.
An adjusted gross score in golf is one that is computed using the per-hole maximum scores described in the USGA’s equitable stroke control (ESC) guidelines. Sounds complicated, but don’t worry: the gist of it is that the USGA puts a limit on how high a score a golfer can take on an individual hole during a handicap round.
How Adjusted Gross Score Is Used in Golf
Again, you need concern yourself with the adjusted gross score only if you have a USGA Handicap Index.
USGA Handicap Indexes are calculated using a golfer’s 20 most recent rounds of golf. Golfers who have handicaps report their scores following the round. In the USGA handicap calculation, however, golfers don’t report their gross scores (the actual number of strokes played), but their adjusted gross scores. And those adjusted gross scores are used to calculate handicap.
How to Get Your Adjusted Gross Score
First, you have to know your course handicap for the golf course being played. Then, you need to consult the equitable stroke control guidelines, which tell golfers what the maximum single-hole score they can report is for a round turned in for USGA handicap purposes.
Luckily, there’s a chart. Here are the per-hole maximums under ESC:
Course Handicap Maximum Score
0-9 Double Bogey
10-19 7
20-29 8
30-39 9
40 or more 10
So let’s say Golfer A has a course handicap of 17. She knows from this chart that the score she turns in for handicap purposes can’t contain any holes with scores higher than 7. But, whoops, Golfer A got a 9 on the sixth hole. Ouch!
That 9 counts—she doesn’t get to ignore it. If she’s playing in a tournament, or playing against a friend or wagering on her round, that 9 is what matters. That’s her gross score on Hole 6.
But after the round, when she turns in her score for handicap purposes, that 9 becomes a 7. The 7 is her adjusted gross score for Hole 6, and that’s what she uses when reporting her score for handicaps.
What’s the Point of All That?
The purpose of the USGA Handicap System (or any other golf handicap system) is not just to tell you what your average golf score is, but to represent your potential for scoring. When you are playing at your best, what is your level of play, your potential best scoring? That’s what handicaps seek to represent.
And a blow-up hole, or disaster hole—that 9 above, a 12 here, a 10 there—can throw off one’s handicap. The USGA’s answer to that is to impose the maximum per-hole scores in the ESC guidelines and to require golfers to report their adjusted gross scores, rather than actual scores, for handicap purposes.
So let’s say Golfer A has a course handicap of 17. She knows from this chart that the score she turns in for handicap purposes can’t contain any holes with scores higher than 7. But, whoops, Golfer A got a 9 on the sixth hole. Ouch!
That 9 counts—she doesn’t get to ignore it. If she’s playing in a tournament, or playing against a friend or wagering on her round, that 9 is what matters. That’s her gross score on Hole 6.
But after the round, when she turns in her score for handicap purposes, that 9 becomes a 7. The 7 is her adjusted gross score for Hole 6, and that’s what she uses when reporting her score for handicaps.
What’s the Point of All That?
The purpose of the USGA Handicap System (or any other golf handicap system) is not just to tell you what your average golf score is, but to represent your potential for scoring. When you are playing at your best, what is your level of play, your potential best scoring? That’s what handicaps seek to represent.
And a blow-up hole, or disaster hole—that 9 above, a 12 here, a 10 there—can throw off one’s handicap. The USGA’s answer to that is to impose the maximum per-hole scores in the ESC guidelines and to require golfers to report their adjusted gross scores, rather than actual scores, for handicap purposes.
Equitable Stroke Control in Golf and Maximum Scores Per Hole
How Golf Handicaps Work: Overview of Their Role and Function
What You Need to Know About Golf’s World Handicap System
What Is the Highest Handicap a Golfer Can Have?
Explaining ‘Gross Score’ In Golf
How Is Golf Handicap Index Calculated? Here’s the Formula
Course Handicap: What Is It and How Is It Used?
How the System 36 Handicap Formula Works in Golf
Golf Calculators to Estimate Your Handicap
What Is a Scratch Golfer?
Explaining the Peoria Scoring System and ‘Handicap’
How to Allocate Handicap Strokes in Golf Match Play
How to Play an Eclectic Tournament in Golf
Here’s How Stroke Play Works in Golf
Do You Have to Join a Club to Get a USGA Handicap Index?
Golf Handicap: Which Holes to Play
Equitable Stroke Control in Golf and Maximum Scores Per Hole
Equitable Stroke Control in Golf and Maximum Scores Per Hole
How Golf Handicaps Work: Overview of Their Role and Function
How Golf Handicaps Work: Overview of Their Role and Function
What You Need to Know About Golf’s World Handicap System
What You Need to Know About Golf’s World Handicap System
What Is the Highest Handicap a Golfer Can Have?
What Is the Highest Handicap a Golfer Can Have?
Explaining ‘Gross Score’ In Golf
Explaining ‘Gross Score’ In Golf
How Is Golf Handicap Index Calculated? Here’s the Formula
How Is Golf Handicap Index Calculated? Here’s the Formula
Course Handicap: What Is It and How Is It Used?
Course Handicap: What Is It and How Is It Used?
How the System 36 Handicap Formula Works in Golf
How the System 36 Handicap Formula Works in Golf
Golf Calculators to Estimate Your Handicap
Golf Calculators to Estimate Your Handicap
What Is a Scratch Golfer?
What Is a Scratch Golfer?
Explaining the Peoria Scoring System and ‘Handicap’
Explaining the Peoria Scoring System and ‘Handicap’
How to Allocate Handicap Strokes in Golf Match Play
How to Allocate Handicap Strokes in Golf Match Play
How to Play an Eclectic Tournament in Golf
How to Play an Eclectic Tournament in Golf
Here’s How Stroke Play Works in Golf
Here’s How Stroke Play Works in Golf
Do You Have to Join a Club to Get a USGA Handicap Index?
Do You Have to Join a Club to Get a USGA Handicap Index?
Golf Handicap: Which Holes to Play
Golf Handicap: Which Holes to Play
Home
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About Us Advertise Careers Privacy Policy Editorial Guidelines Contact Terms of Use EU Privacy
LiveAbout is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.
Home
Home
Entertainment
Careers
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Humor
About Us Advertise Careers Privacy Policy Editorial Guidelines Contact Terms of Use EU Privacy
About Us
Advertise
Careers
Privacy Policy
Editorial Guidelines
Contact
Terms of Use
EU Privacy
Entertainment
Careers
Activities
Humor
LiveAbout is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.
When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Cookies Settings Reject All Accept Cookies
