How to post a golf score (GHIN rules, explained)
Post your score on the day you play, before midnight local time, through the GHIN app, GHIN.com, or your club kiosk. A round is postable when you played at least 9 holes by the Rules of Golf on a rated course in an authorized format. Enter hole-by-hole scores where possible — GHIN applies the net double bogey caps for you.
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What counts as a postable round
- At least 9 holes played by the Rules of Golf (7–17 holes post as 9; 18-hole scores need at least 14 holes played, with unplayed holes recorded as net par).
- A rated course — the tees you played must have a course rating and slope.
- An authorized format — individual stroke play, Stableford, match play and most common formats count. Pure scrambles do not.
- Company of at least one person — strictly solitary rounds are not acceptable for handicap posting under WHS in the US.
When to post
The same day, before midnight local time.Same-day posting matters because the daily playing-conditions calculation (PCC) compares everyone's scores from that course that day; a late score misses the adjustment. Forgot? Post it as soon as you remember — a late score is far better than a missing one, and your club can correct the record date.
Hole-by-hole vs. total score
Always choose hole-by-hole when offered. GHIN then applies the net double bogey cap (par + 2 + your strokes on that hole) automatically, so a single disaster hole cannot inflate your index. Posting only an 18-hole total puts the burden on you to pre-adjust — a common source of wrong indexes.
The easiest way to get this right
Every posting mistake comes from the same root cause: reconstructing your round in the parking lot. If your scorecard is already digital — every hole, every putt, recorded as you played — posting takes thirty seconds and nothing is misremembered. Flash Caddie keeps that clean hole-by-hole record and shows your unofficial WHS index instantly, so you always know what the posting will do to your number before GHIN processes it overnight.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens if I forget to post a score?
- Post it as soon as you remember with the correct date of play. Repeated failures to post can lead your club’s handicap committee to post penalty scores on your behalf.
- Can I post a 9-hole score to GHIN?
- Yes. Nine-hole rounds are fully postable; WHS converts them to an 18-hole differential automatically, so they count the same as full rounds.
- Do I post gross or adjusted score?
- With hole-by-hole entry you post your actual gross per hole and GHIN adjusts automatically. If you post an 18-hole total, you must first cap each hole at net double bogey yourself.
- Does a match-play round count for posting?
- Yes — record your most likely score on any conceded holes and post the round. Only formats where you don’t play your own ball (like a scramble) are excluded.
Keep reading
A clean card, every round
Score hole-by-hole in Flash Caddie as you play and posting to GHIN becomes a 30-second copy job — with your unofficial WHS index already updated the moment you finish.