Golf scorecard

How to use this golf scorecard

1. Type the course name, choose 9 or 18 holes and the number of players, and enter names. Add each player's course handicap if you want net scores.
2. Check the par of each hole against the course's own card. The default is a common par-72 layout: 4, 4, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5 out and 4, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4 in.
3. On the course, use the hole panel. The first tap on + sets the score to par, the first tap on − sets one under par, and every tap after that adds or removes a stroke. Arrows move between holes.
4. The full card below fills in as you go. You can also type straight into it, which is quicker when copying a paper card afterwards.
5. After the round, press Print this card for a classic card with the holes across the page, or Print blank card to take a paper card with your course's pars to the first tee.

How to fill in a golf scorecard

A paper card has one column per hole and one row per player. Above the player rows you will usually find the yardage from each set of tees, the par of each hole and a handicap or stroke index row that ranks the holes from 1 (hardest) to 18 (easiest). That ranking tells you where handicap strokes are given in match play.

In stroke play your playing partner normally keeps your card and you keep theirs; the person keeping it is the marker. After every hole, write the number of strokes for each player, including penalty strokes. After 9 holes, add the strokes in the Out column; after 18, the back nine goes in In, and Out plus In is the Total (the gross score). Under the Rules of Golf the player is responsible for the score on each hole being right, and both the marker and the player certify the card before it is handed in. Adding up is the committee's job in a competition, but it is worth checking anyway.

How to read the card: score to par

Score to par is your strokes minus the par of the holes you have played. Level par is shown as E (even), two over as +2 and one under as −1. Scores on a single hole have names:

The stats table counts these for each player, so you can see at a glance whether a round was lost to a few big numbers or to lots of bogeys.

Worked example

On the default par-72 layout, Sam scores 4, 5, 3, 6, 4, 3, 3, 5, 7 on the front nine. That adds up to 40 out, four over the front-nine par of 36. On the back nine he scores 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, 2, 4, 5, 6 for 38 in. His gross total is 40 + 38 = 78, which is +6. His round has 2 birdies (hole 6 and the par-3 15th), 10 pars, 4 bogeys and 2 double bogeys.

Sam's course handicap is 9, so his net score is 78 − 9 = 69, three under par. Net scores let golfers of different abilities compare rounds fairly.

Your course handicap is not the same as your Handicap Index. Under the World Handicap System it is Handicap Index × (Slope Rating ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par) for the tees you play. Most clubs post a table, and your handicap app works it out for you.

Tips on the course

• Enter scores on the next tee, not on the green, so the group behind is not waiting.
• Count penalty strokes as you go: a ball out of bounds or lost is stroke and distance, a ball in a penalty area with relief is one stroke.
• Playing nine? Choose 9 holes and use a nine-hole course handicap; on 18-hole courses most nine-hole handicaps are about half the 18-hole figure.

How we tested it

We wrote automated tests for the scoring code and ran them with Node. They check that the default layout is 36 out, 36 in and par 72; that 18 pars give 72 and E; that Sam's round in the example gives 40 out, 38 in, 78 total, +6, 2 birdies, 10 pars, 4 bogeys and 2 doubles, and a net 69 with a course handicap of 9 (and 80 with a plus-2 handicap); that a partial round of 3, 4, 3 shows −1 thru 3; that a nine-hole card ignores holes 10–18; and that a 2 on a par 4 and a hole-in-one on a par 3 count as eagle or better.