Morris, by Badgie Golf
Handicap & Rules
Your handicap, Stableford and the games you play with friends, plus etiquette and what each score is called.
Your handicap, the format you play and how you behave on the course decide more of your weekend than any swing change. These pages do the arithmetic the way the rules write it: the handicap calculator works through the World Handicap System (score differentials, the lowest 8 of your last 20, then Course and Playing Handicap for the tee you play today), the Stableford page turns strokes into points hole by hole, and the scorers for Wolf, Nassau, Skins and scrambles keep the card honest in points, never money.
Around the numbers sit the words and the habits: what a birdie, an eagle or an albatross means, which formats suit a mixed group, and the etiquette that keeps a four-ball moving, with the official Rule behind every point that is a Rule and the plain habit behind every point that is not. A result travels in the link, so a card sent to the group opens exactly as you left it, and every formula cites the R&A and USGA text it comes from.
Where to start
- 1Golf handicap calculator (WHS)
Your Index from your rounds, then your handicap on the tee you play today.
- 2Golf games to play with friends
Which game fits your group, and a free scorer for each.
- 3Golf etiquette: the Rules and the habits
What the Rules require and what is only good manners, told apart.
Quick answers
- Do the tools save anything?
- No. The state lives in the link you copy; nothing is stored on a server and nobody sees your card unless you send them the link.
- Are the formulas official?
- The handicap and Stableford arithmetic follows the R&A and USGA Rules, cited on each page. Your federation may add its own caps and adjustments, and the calculator says where.
- What does Morris add on WhatsApp?
- The Rules looked up in the official text before he quotes a number, in the middle of a round if you need it, your rounds and your handicap kept from week to week, and the one thing to work on next.
- GuideYour WHS handicap report, explainedTwenty synthetic Score Differentials, the eight that count and what happens when a new round replaces the oldest one.Updated
- GuideMatch play vs stroke play, and what dormie meansHow each format is counted and won, what a concession is, what halved and dormie mean, and which format a club competition uses.Updated
- GuideHow to fill in a golf scorecardWho keeps the score, what you check, who signs and what a wrong hole score costs in stroke play, step by step.Updated
- GuideAre golf rangefinders legal? What Rule 4.3 allowsDistance is allowed, slope, wind speed and club advice are not in a competition: what Rule 4.3 says about rangefinders, GPS watches and apps.Updated
- GuideHow many clubs in a golf bag? The 14-club ruleThe 14-club limit, what counts, the penalty in stroke play and match play, and what to do with a broken or lost club.Updated
- GuideLost ball and provisional ball: the rule in plain EnglishThree minutes to search, what out of bounds means, the stroke-and-distance penalty and how to announce a provisional ball.Updated
- GuideUnplayable lie: your options and how to dropThe three options for one penalty stroke, the extra one in a bunker, and how to drop from knee height without a penalty.Updated
- GuideRed and yellow penalty areas: the rule and your optionsWhat the colour of the stakes changes, the options for yellow and red, the reference point and what each choice costs.Updated
- GuideWhat is a good golf score? Averages by handicapNet par by handicap, the averages Shot Scope measures, and what breaking 100, 90 and 80 asks of a player.Updated
- GuideGolf rules explained: the situations you meetOut of bounds, lost ball, penalty areas, unplayable lies, dropping and the putting green: what the rules say in each case and what it costs.Updated
- ToolCourse handicap calculatorYour Handicap Index turned into strokes on the tee you play: Slope, Course Rating, par and the format allowance, with the strokes hole by hole.Updated
- ToolGolf handicap calculator (WHS)Your Handicap Index from your rounds: every Score Differential, the lowest 8 of 20, the official formulas and their source.Updated
- ToolStableford scoring and calculatorHow the points work under Rule 21.1b and a scorer that counts them from your handicap and the stroke index, for up to four players.Updated
- GuideGolf games to play with friendsNassau, Skins, Wolf, Scramble and Stableford: how each works, which one fits your group, and a free scorer for each. Points and units, never money.Updated
- ToolWolf golf game: rules and scorerThe wolf rotates, picks a partner after each drive or goes alone; best ball decides. Rules, points, strategy and a scorer for four players.Updated
- ToolNassau golf bet: rules and scorerThree match-play bets in one round, presses, ties, and a scorer for two players or two pairs at best ball, gross or net.Updated
- ToolSkins golf game: rules and scorerLowest unique score wins the hole, ties carry over. Gross or net, and a scorer for two to four players that counts the carryovers.Updated
- ToolScramble golf: format, team handicap and scorerEveryone plays from the best ball. The rules, the recommended team handicap (25/20/15/10), strategy, and a scorer that computes the net score.Updated
- GuideBirdie, eagle, albatross, bogey, parWhat each score is called, what it is worth in Stableford, and where the words really come from, in date order.Updated
- GuideGolf etiquette: the Rules and the habitsRule 1.2, 5.6 and 6.4b as the Rules state them, then safety, pace, the course, the green and the people in the order that matters, and your first round at a new club.Updated