What Is a Good Golf Handicap? A Complete Guide

The best thing about golf is that it's a sport for life and can be played together by people of all ages and abilities. Imagine grandpa trying to D up Lebron James at the YMCA. But the two could play golf together every Friday at their local course and have an enjoyable, competitive game with no bruises earned.

Golf can level the playing field for golfers of all ages and styles in a few ways. For starters, most courses have 3-5 sets of tees. So a more advanced golfer could play a course 1,000 or more yards longer than their opponent. Seniors, women, juniors and beginners can typically play the forward tees to reduce the distance gains of more accomplished players.

Then there are golf handicaps. This is the most unique thing about competitive golf in the amateur ranks. A worldwide system has been developed to give players strokes vs. their opponent based on their rounds' history.

Official handicaps are critical when competing in legitimate amateur, net-golf events.

What is a good golf handicap?

Source: USGA

The United States Golf Association posted a 2025 Golf Scorecard with many insights from over 82 million scores posted in 2025.

According to the USGA, the average men's handicap is 14.2, and the average women's handicap is 28.8. But that only considers the 3.68 million golfers who keep an official handicap. There are over 20 million recorded golfers in the US, according to the National Golf Foundation. This means the USGA numbers are likely weighted toward the most serious golfers in the country, rather than the true average golf handicap.

As you can see in the table above, whether or not your handicap is "good" depends on where you fall on the spectrum. The largest male cohort is the 10-14.9 handicap range, while combined, single-digit handicappers accounted for about 30% of all golfers. For women, about 20% are better than a 20 handicap.

Just speaking as a longtime golfer who gets paired up a lot at the local courses with golfers: If you can legitimately break 100, you're definitely better than "average."

The number one thing people get wrong about handicaps is that not every score is included in the average calculated to get a handicap.

A lot of people have taken up golf since the COVID-19 pandemic and when I get paired up with them at the muni, or speak with them at social events, it's pretty clear they really don't know how a handicap actually works. "I average a 90 so I'm an 18" is generally the kind of answer I get.

But your handicap is really only an average of the best 8 of your last 20 rounds of golf. So you could shoot a bunch of 100s but a few scores between 85-92 and your handicap will be well under 20, depending on how high the slope/rating is at the course you normally play.

A beginner golf handicap will typically start around 54. Frankly, beginners aren’t going to be able to finish a lot of holes they play. Once they can get towards a 36 handicap they will be able to get around the course a lot better. Beginners should always be playing the forward tees.

What is a Sandbagger in golf?

A sandbagger is someone who outperforms their handicap by a wide margin in matches. There are thousands of likely sandbaggers on the USGA's official handicap rolls. A sandbagger will log a lot of high rounds to their account so it spikes their handicap to, let's say, a 20. Then, on match day, they miraculously shoot an 84, 10 shots better than their handicap, shoot a net 62, and win the match purse.

This might work once or twice, but you'll find it's harder and harder to find a match. Worst case, you may be caught in the crosshairs of vigilante sandbagger reporter Yip Strickler.

Becoming known as a sandbagger will torch your reputation locally, and no one will ever want to play a net match for any money against you. Tournament officials will "adjust" your handicap if they suspect foul play. Also, keep in mind that everyone's handicap and scoring history is available publicly to examine.

The "Vanity Handicap"

On the other end of the spectrum is the "Vanity Handicap." This is when a golfer logs scores that are lower than their actual ability. So when it's time for the match, they shoot well above what their handicap suggests, and they may even be giving shots to an inferior opponent.

"Wow, I'm really off today," the vanity 8 handicap says as they shoot a 95. The Vanity Capper would rather be known as a single-digit handicapper than win any matches. Great for their opponent, horrible for their playing partner.

Another notable number is that 3 in 4 golfers who kept an official handicap in 2025 did not play in an "official" competition that year. That means these scores are all largely based on the honor system. Ultimately, it's up to you and who you play with to decide if your scores will skew more towards the "sandbagger" or "vanity" persona.

But there's nothing more rewarding than having a career (gross) round, and you can use handicaps to personally assess if you're trending in the right or wrong direction in your golf game.

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