Handicaps

How handicaps work in FOREPAID — what to enter, how strokes are allocated, and why it all locks at round start.

1. Setting your handicap

You enter your handicap once during profile setup. It's a single number — whatever you currently play to. Plus-handicaps (like +1.4) are supported via the +/− toggle.

1. Open Profile → tap the handicap row.
2. Type your number.
3. Save.

That number is yours across every round you play. Update it whenever your game changes.

2. How strokes are allocated

When handicaps are turned on for a round, FOREPAID allocates strokes using the standard "relative to low" model: the lowest-handicap player in the group plays scratch (zero strokes), and everyone else gets the difference between their handicap and the lowest.

The formula behind your number

The numbers in the example above are Course Handicaps. They're computed live for each round from the handicap you set in your profile, using the standard formula:

Course Handicap = Handicap Index × Slope ÷ 113 + (Course Rating − Par)

Slope is a course-and-tee rating (the harder the tees, the higher the slope); 113 is the average slope, a reference baseline. Course Rating − Par adjusts for how those tees actually play to par — usually a small nudge, a stroke or two, and typically a bigger drop from the forward tees. The result rounds to a whole number.

So a 14.2 index from the Blue tees (Slope 132, Rating 72.4, Par 72) plays as a 17 Course Handicap — 14.2 × 132 ÷ 113 = 16.6, plus (72.4 − 72) = 17. From the White tees (Slope 121, Rating 70.2, Par 72) the same player is a 13. Same player, different tees, different number of strokes — this is why your effective handicap can shift from round to round even at the same course.

Which holes get the strokes

Strokes go to the hardest-rated holes first. Every course assigns each hole a Stroke Index (HCP) from 1 to 18 — the hardest hole is 1, the easiest is 18.

If you get 7 strokes, you get one on each of the seven hardest holes (Stroke Index 1 through 7). The Scorecard shows each stroke as a small red dot above the hole.

For very high handicaps, strokes wrap. If you get 21 strokes, you get one on every hole (18), plus a second stroke on the three hardest (Stroke Index 1, 2, and 3).

Playing 9 holes

A 9-hole round uses half your Course Handicap — the standard WHS 9-hole rule. You're only playing half the course, so you get half the strokes, and FOREPAID halves the number automatically. That's why the same player's strokes look smaller on a 9-hole card than on a full 18.

Combine Nines — two 9-hole loops stitched into one 18 — is a full round, so it uses your full Course Handicap, allocated across all 18 holes as normal.

3. Net vs gross — what each is used for

Every score has two values:

• Gross — the actual number of strokes you took on the hole. The big number on the scorecard.
• Net — your gross score minus the strokes you receive on that hole. The small green number underneath the gross.

Different parts of the game use different ones:

• The scorecard displays gross as the headline number with net underneath. This matches paper-scorecard and TV-broadcast convention.
• The wager engine uses net for any bet where the foursome agreed to play handicapped (the default on most wagers).
• Russ's chirps usually fire on your net score for non-trivial events — a stroke-adjusted birdie still counts as a birdie. The exception: hole-in-ones, eagles, and double pars fire on gross because the physical achievement (or disaster) is what it is.

4. Why your handicap locks at round start

Once you tap Start Round, every player's handicap is fixed for that round. You can't change it from the Score Entry screen and you can't change it on Profile until the round is finished.

This is a money-protection rule. Bets are calculated against the strokes each player receives. Letting a player change their handicap mid-round would let them alter the money flow after the wager was set.

5. Updating your handicap

You can change your handicap anytime you're not in an active round. Open Profile, tap the handicap row, type the new number, save. The next round you start uses the new value; past rounds stay as they were.