How to Pop a Scorecard

When a tournament uses hole-by-hole scores to determine tournament winners, a player’s handicap is distributed over the 18 holes based on a hole’s difficulty (This is called “Popping a Scorecard”).

Term Definitions

Pops – The number of handicap strokes a player gets on each hole. Most tournament scoring systems use dots on a scorecard to indicate the handicap strokes.

Handicap Index – A decimal number you receive from a handicap scoring system like NCGA or USGA which represents your level of skill.

Course Handicap – When playing on different courses or on different Tees, your Handicap Index will be converted to a Course Handicap using Course Handicap Conversion Tables or a Handicap Conversion Application. For more details see: USGA Handicapping Information

Hole Rating (HDCP) – Each hole is assigned a level of difficulty from 1 to 18 (1 being the hardest, and 18 being the easiest). Most scorecards label the Hole Rating line as HDCP. Please note: There is often a Men’s HDCP and a Women’s HDCP, and some courses, like Lake of the Pines, use a different HDCP for each set of tees. So, be sure you are popping with the correct HDCP for the Tees you are playing.

To Pop a Scorecard

1.  For Handicaps 0 – 18: Your Course handicap equals the number of hardest holes you get 1 handicap stroke on and 0 handicap strokes on the remaining holes. For example: A Course Handicap of 10 means you get 1 handicap stroke on the 10 hardest rated holes and 0 handicap strokes on the remaining holes. (See Player 1 on the Sample Scorecard)

2. For Handicaps 19 – 36: Subtract 18 from your Course Handicap, and the difference equals the number of hardest rated holes you get 2 handicap stokes on and just 1 handicap stroke on the remaining holes. For example: A Course Handicap of 29 - 18 = 11, so you get 2 handicap strokes on the 11 hardest rated holes and just 1 handicap stroke on the remaining holes. (See Player 2 on the Sample Scorecard)

3. For Handicaps 37 – 54: Subtract 36 from your Course Handicap, and the difference equals the number of hardest rated holes you get 3 handicap stokes on and just 2 handicap strokes on the remaining holes. For example: A Course Handicap of 42 - 36 = 6, so you get 3 handicap strokes on the 6 hardest rated holes and just 2 handicap strokes on the remaining holes. (See Player 3 on the Sample Scorecard)

4.  Check your Math: Adding up the number of handicap strokes on all 18 holes.