Remember that thing we talked about before, a handicap? Well this is one of the scenarios where it comes into play and is used in golf - stableford.
A simple way to think of a handicap is, the number of extra shots needed to get round any given golf course to make par. If a course par is 72 and your handicap is 23, that means to achieve "par" you need 72 plus 23 extra shots = 95 shots in total.
These extra shots are allocated to each hole based on the holes difficulty rating, or Stroke Index, which is noted on the course's card. The hardest hole on the course is stroke index 1, the easiest hole on the course would be stroke index 18.
To use a specific example, a 23 handicapper would get 2 extra shots at the 1st - 5th hardest holes, and 1 extra shot at all the others = 23 total extra shots for the course.
To calculate the points - you work out what you scored over/under par on each hole in comparison to your allocated shots for that hole:
- 1 point for bogey
- 2 points for par
- 3 points for birdie
- 4 points for eagle
Using the 23 handicapper as an example again, here's some of his scores and what they would be in stableford points:
Hole | Stroke Index | Par | Strokes | Points |
1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 (Birdie) |
2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 (Eagle) |
3 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 1 (Bogey) |
4 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 2 (Par) |