The easiest way to find your course handicap is using the GHIN Mobile App or GHIN.com. On either product, there is a "Handicap Calculator" on the Home page. Search a course, which will take you to the following page to select a tee:
After selecting a Handicap Allowance of 85% and the Gold Tees, three values appear.
- The Course Handicap of 21 represents the number of shots a player receives before any handicap allowances. This number is used to adjust any hole scores that exceed the maximum hole score of net double bogey
- The Playing Handicap of 18 adjusts the course handicap for the allowance of 85%. A full set of recommended allowances for certain formats of play can be found in Appendix C of the Rules of Handicapping
- "Shots off" is used when multiple players are selected in the Course Handicap Calculator. The player with the lowest playing handicap will receive 0 strokes and all other players will receive their playing handicap less the playing handicap of the lowest player.
For those curious on the course handicap calculation it is: Handicap Index * Slope Rating / 113 + (Course Rating - Par) rounded to the nearest whole number.