How to calculate your Stableford points

The idea

In Stableford, you don’t add up your strokes: you score points on each hole. The better you play the hole, the more points you earn. A bad hole never costs you more than zero points, which is what makes the format enjoyable at every level.

Points are based on your net score: your number of strokes minus the strokes your handicap gives you on that hole.

The points table

As a formula: points = 2 + par − net score, with a minimum of zero.

How many strokes do you get on a hole?

Your playing handicap is spread over the holes according to their difficulty, shown in the HCP (stroke index) column of the scorecard, from 1 (the hardest hole) to 18 (the easiest).

• Playing handicap 10: one stroke on holes HCP 1 to 10.
• Playing handicap 18: one stroke on every hole.
• Playing handicap 24: one stroke everywhere, plus a second one on holes HCP 1 to 6.

Your playing handicap comes from your Handicap Index and the course’s Slope and Course Rating: our strokes received guide explains it, with a calculator.

An example

Hole 5, par 4, HCP 3. Your playing handicap is 20: you get 1 stroke on every hole and a second one on holes HCP 1 and 2. On this HCP 3 hole, you therefore receive 1 stroke.

• You take 5 strokes → net 4 = par → 2 points.
• You take 4 strokes → net 3 = net birdie → 3 points.
• You take 7 strokes → net 6 = net double bogey → 0 points.

As soon as you can no longer score a point on a hole, you can pick up your ball: the game moves faster for everyone.

What is a good score?

36 points means you played exactly to your handicap (18 holes × 2 points). Above 36, you played better than your handicap; below, a little worse.

Let BirdiePot keep count

In BirdiePot, choose Stableford and check the Slope and Course Rating of your tees (the app finds them for many courses): it calculates your playing handicap, your strokes received hole by hole and your points as you enter your scores.