text: A new WHS handicap requires several scores to be submitted; the recommendation is a minimum of 54 holes made up of any number of 9 or 18-hole rounds in order to achieve a reasonable fair and accurate result, although handicaps may be issued from a smaller sample. Handicap adjustments will be made upon submission of any 9 or 18-hole scores with updates published daily; unlike some other systems both competitive and recreational rounds may be submitted by all players (e.g. CONGU's Unified Handicapping System only allows submission of non-qualifying scores by golfers in Category 2 or above). Ongoing handicaps are based on the average of the best 8 differentials, but with an "anchor" to prevent rapid increases that would not necessarily reflect the player's true potential. There is also a hole limit of "net double bogey" for handicapping purposes in order to prevent one or two bad holes from having a disproportionate effect.
  World Handicap System overview
  A WHS handicap is calculated with a specific arithmetic formula that approximates how many strokes above or below par a player might be able to play, based on the eight best scores of their last twenty rounds.  The calculation has several variables, including: the player's scores from their most recent rounds, the course rating, and the slope rating.