Your Handicap

Find your Course Handicap for every set of Desert Canyon tees, then pick a game where everyone has a fair shot.

Course Handicap calculator

What will you get today?

Enter your Handicap Index, choose your tees and see the strokes you receive at Desert Canyon. Don’t know your Index? Look it up in the GHIN app.
Desert Canyon Golf Club

Course Handicap Calculator

Enter your Handicap Index® and choose your tee box. This calculator will estimate your Course Handicap for this golf course.

Find Your Course Handicap

Estimated Course Handicap
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Enter your Handicap Index® to calculate.

Desert Canyon Golf Club Rating & Slope Data

Tee Gender Par Rating Slope Front 9 Back 9
Canyon M 71 69.7 125 34.3 / 124 35.4 / 126
Sky M 71 69.0 123 34.0 / 122 35.0 / 124
Sky/Cactus M 71 68.6 122 33.8 / 121 34.8 / 123
Cactus M 71 67.3 121 33.3 / 121 34.0 / 121
Cactus/Sun M 71 65.4 112 32.5 / 110 32.9 / 114
Sun M 71 63.2 105 31.5 / 104 31.7 / 105
Cactus (Middle) F 71 73.0 123 36.0 / 122 37.0 / 124
Cactus/Sun F 71 71.0 120 35.1 / 120 35.9 / 120
Sun (forward) F 71 68.5 115 33.9 / 114 34.6 / 115
For official handicap calculations and the most current data, use the official USGA tool. USGA Course Rating and Slope Database™.

Scorecard with your dots

Playing with a group?

Add up to four players, enter each Handicap Index and pick your tees. We’ll build your Desert Canyon scorecard with every player’s strokes marked as dots on the holes where they get them, off the low man. Then download the PDF or email the card to the whole group before your tee time.

How it works

Why your strokes change with the tees

Your Handicap Index travels with you. Your Course Handicap is the number of strokes you get on a specific set of tees, adjusted for how hard those tees play.

The formula

Course Handicap

Handicap Index × (Slope Rating ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par), rounded to the nearest whole number.

Slope tells you how much harder the course plays for a bogey golfer than for a scratch golfer. Course Rating minus par adjusts for tees that play longer or shorter than par 71.

Example Course Handicaps at Desert Canyon

Tees (men)YardsRating / Slope10.0 Index15.0 Index20.0 Index
Canyon6,41069.7 / 125101521
Sky6,21669.0 / 12391420
Sky/Cactus6,08168.6 / 12281419
Cactus5,88567.3 / 12171218
Cactus/Sun5,46665.4 / 1124914
Sun5,02663.2 / 1051611

Par 71 from every set. Ladies’ ratings: Cactus 73.0 / 123, Cactus/Sun 71.0 / 120, Sun 68.5 / 115. Use the calculator above for your exact number.

Because the formula already includes Course Rating minus par, golfers playing different tees can compete in the same game without any extra adjustment. Pick the tees that fit your game and play.

Scorecard

Know where you get your strokes

Strokes are given on the hardest holes first, using the handicap row on the scorecard. The men’s No. 1 handicap hole is No. 15, followed by No. 9 and No. 14. The ladies’ No. 1 handicap hole is No. 14, followed by No. 3 and No. 15.

A Course Handicap of 9 means one stroke on each of the nine hardest holes. A Course Handicap of 20 means one stroke on every hole, plus a second stroke on the two hardest.

Games for your group

Four games where everyone has a shot

The World Handicap System recommends a handicap allowance for each format, so a 5 and a 25 can play together and both have a real chance to win.

Teams of two

Four-Ball Best Ball

Two-person teams. Everyone plays their own ball, and the team takes the lower net score on each hole. Play it as stroke play for a total, or match play hole by hole.

Handicap allowance

85% of each player’s Course Handicap in stroke play, 90% in match play.

Great for mixed groups: a strong player carries the team on some holes, and the higher handicap’s strokes win others.

Everyone for themselves

Stableford

Score points on every hole from your net score: 1 for a net bogey, 2 for net par, 3 for net birdie, 4 for net eagle. Most points wins. Pick up once you can’t score, which keeps the round moving.

Handicap allowance

95% of Course Handicap.

One blow-up hole costs you nothing more than zero points, so every golfer stays in it to the 18th.

The whole group

Four-Person Scramble

Everyone tees off, the team picks the best shot, and all four play from there until the ball is holed. The lowest team net score wins.

Handicap allowance

Add 25% of the lowest Course Handicap, 20% of the second, 15% of the third and 10% of the highest.

Relaxed and social, ideal for outings and groups with newer golfers.

Head to head

Nassau

Three matches in one: the front nine, the back nine and the full 18. Win a hole with the lower net score.

Handicap allowance

100% of Course Handicap. The lowest player plays off zero and everyone else gets the difference.

Three chances to win keeps a match alive, even after a slow start.

Handicap Index

Keep your Index current

Post every score in the GHIN app after your round so your Handicap Index reflects how you’re playing now. The calculator on this page gives an estimate; your official Course Handicap is the one shown in GHIN.

Planning a group game or outing? Tell us about your event and we’ll help set it up.

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