What Stroke Index Actually Ranks
Every hole on a course carries two separate numbers: its par and its stroke index (you’ll also see it labeled S.I., Index, Handicap or HCP on the card). The stroke index is a ranking from 1 to 18 that orders the holes by difficulty for handicap purposes — specifically, where a handicap stroke is judged to make the fairest difference.
Stroke index 1 is the hole where a higher handicapper most needs a shot to compete; stroke index 18 is where they need it least. No two holes share a number — every rank from 1 to 18 is used exactly once.
Stroke index ≠ par
They’re unrelated. A hole can be a par 4 with a stroke index of 7, or a par 3 with a stroke index of 15. Par tells you the expected score; stroke index tells you where your handicap strokes go. They live in different rows of the scorecard.
How Strokes Are Allocated
Here’s the mechanic that makes it all work. You take your Course Handicap and give yourself one stroke on each hole, starting from stroke index 1 and counting up, until your strokes run out:
| Course Handicap | Holes that get a stroke | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Stroke index 1–9 | One shot on the 9 hardest-ranked holes |
| 14 | Stroke index 1–14 | One shot on 14 holes, none on S.I. 15–18 |
| 18 | All 18 holes | Exactly one shot everywhere |
| 22 | All 18, plus 1–4 again | Two shots on S.I. 1–4, one on the rest |
Subtract those allocated strokes from your gross score on each hole and you get your net score — the number that lets players of different abilities compete fairly. On a hole where you get a stroke, a gross 5 becomes a net 4.
Stroke Index in Match Play
In match play, only the difference between the two players’ handicaps is used. If you’re a 12 and your opponent is a 4, you get 8 strokes — one on each hole ranked stroke index 1 through 8. Those are the holes where your net score gets the discount, which is exactly why the ranking exists: it puts your help on the holes where you’re most likely to need it.
Why Odd and Even Split the Nines
You’ll often notice the odd stroke indexes (1, 3, 5…) clustered on one nine and the even ones (2, 4, 6…) on the other. That’s deliberate: it spreads the stroke-receiving holes evenly across the round so a match isn’t decided by all the hardest, shot-getting holes happening to fall in the same half.
Stroke index is the quiet engine behind fair golf — it’s what turns raw scores into a real contest between a beginner and a low handicapper. Keep going with our guides to what a golf handicap is, par, and scoring terms.