How do I establish a golf handicap?

Every state in the U.S. has one or more Allied Golf Associations (AGAs) that are authorized to issue and provide official USGA Handicap Indexes. If you’re in Washington or Northern Idaho, it’s WA Golf that does this. To get your own handicap index from WA Golf, you need to join a golf club. You can find more about club options on our ‘Join and Renew‘ page.

So, what’s next? After you join a club, you’ll get a GHIN number. Then, you need to play and post at least 54 holes of golf, which can be a mix of 18-hole or 9-hole rounds, into the GHIN system. Once you do that, your handicap index will be calculated. The system updates every day, so you can always check your latest handicap index after you post your scores. Plus, you’ll get emails with updates on the 1st and 15th of every month.

Before your handicap index is established, you’ll see ‘NH’ next to your name, which just means ‘No Handicap’.