Average Golf Handicap for Women: What's Normal
The average US woman with a Handicap Index plays off 28.8, and nearly half are at 30 or higher. Here is where each handicap ranks for women and the stat line behind it.
The average golf handicap for women in the US is 28.8, according to the USGA’s 2025 data. Nearly 45% of women with a Handicap Index play off 30 or higher, so a 25 already beats most of the field.
Those figures come from the USGA’s end-of-2025 numbers, as reported by GOLF.com and National Club Golfer. They cover about 650,000 women and girls with an index, out of 3.68 million golfers in total. Below is where each handicap ranks for women, what each level shoots, and the stats that produce those scores.
Women’s golf handicap: the published numbers
| Figure | US women | US men |
|---|---|---|
| Average Handicap Index (2025) | 28.8 | 14.0 |
| Average Handicap Index (2020) | 27.7 | not cited |
| Average index of new players (2025) | 32.5 | not cited |
| Scratch or plus | 0.85% | 2.01% |
| 0.0–4.9 | 1.50% | 8.23% |
| 25.0–29.9 | about 19% | not published |
| 30.0 and higher | nearly 45% | not published |
| Golfers with an index | about 650,000 | about 3.03 million |
England shows the same picture. England Golf puts the average index of its female club members at 28.09, per National Club Golfer.
Two cuts we can work out from the bands:
- Under 5.0: about 2.35% of women (0.85% + 1.50%).
- Under 25.0: about 36% of women. That’s what’s left after the 19% and 45% bands.
The USGA doesn’t publish the 5.0–24.9 range in smaller bands for women, so we can’t say what share is in single digits or under 15.
What is a good handicap for women?
Anything under 28.8 is better than the average woman who keeps an index. Under 25 puts you in roughly the top 36%. Under 5 is the top 2 to 3%, and scratch is under 1%.
Our take: the percentile matters less than the direction. A 27 who started at 40 two seasons ago is in better shape than a 20 who hasn’t moved in five years.
Don’t read too much into the gap to the men’s average of 14.0. Every course gets a separate Course Rating for women, set by what a scratch woman would shoot from that set of tees. A woman’s 28.8 measures her distance from a scratch woman, and a man’s 14.0 his distance from a scratch man. Our handicap index vs course handicap vs playing handicap guide covers how that conversion works.
One more pattern from the USGA data: about half of the scores women posted in their first season with an index came from nine-hole rounds, against about a quarter for men. A nine-hole score counts toward your index under the World Handicap System, so a short round still builds your handicap.
Women’s handicap benchmarks: what each level shoots
| Handicap | Where it ranks (US women) | Typical score | Most rounds | GIR | Putts | SG vs PGA Tour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scratch (0) | top 1% | 74–76 | 72–79 | 62% | 30.5 | -3.2 |
| 5 | top ~2.4% | 79–81 | 77–85 | 46% | 31.5 | -6.2 |
| 10 | not published | 84–87 | 82–91 | 35% | 32.5 | -9.2 |
| 15 | not published | 90–92 | 87–98 | 23% | 33.5 | -12.2 |
| 20 | not published | 95–98 | 92–104 | 16% | 34.5 | -15.2 |
| 25 | top ~36% | 100–103 | 97–110 | 9% | 35.5 | -18.4 |
| 30 | just above the average | 105–108 | 101–116 | n/a | n/a | -21.5 |
Scores come from our average score by handicap table. They assume a par-72 course whose rating is close to par from the tees you play. Putts come from our putting average benchmarks, greens in regulation from Shot Scope’s amateur data, and strokes gained from the Broadie-based benchmarks for every handicap. The 30 row has gaps because Shot Scope and our putting data stop at 25.
The average woman, at 28.8, sits between the 25 and 30 rows. Her typical round falls somewhere between 100 and 108, and par plus her handicap (about 101) is a good day, not a normal one. An index comes from your best 8 of your last 20 rounds, so your average round always sits a few strokes above it.
These stat benchmarks aren’t split by gender. Shot Scope and Broadie publish them by handicap only, and we haven’t found a women-only version with a checkable method. Because an index is relative to your own tees, the handicap row is the fairest comparison we have.
Each row has its own page: scratch, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30.
The full stat profile by handicap
| Handicap | Score | GIR | Fairways | Putts | Up and down | Penalties | SG off the tee | SG approach | SG around the green | SG putting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scratch (0) | 74–76 | 62% | 50% | 30.5 | 54% | 0.56 | -0.8 | -1.5 | -0.5 | -0.4 |
| 5 | 79–81 | 46% | 51% | 31.5 | 47% | 0.91 | -1.4 | -3.0 | -1.0 | -0.8 |
| 10 | 84–87 | 35% | 50% | 32.5 | 39% | 1.62 | -2.0 | -4.5 | -1.5 | -1.2 |
| 15 | 90–92 | 23% | 47% | 33.5 | 34% | 2.45 | -2.7 | -6.0 | -2.0 | -1.5 |
| 20 | 95–98 | 16% | 45% | 34.5 | 31% | 3.03 | -3.4 | -7.5 | -2.5 | -1.8 |
| 25 | 100–103 | 9% | 50% | 35.5 | 25% | 4.67 | -4.2 | -9.0 | -3.0 | -2.2 |
| 30 | 105–108 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | -5.0 | -10.5 | -3.5 | -2.5 |
Sources by column:
- GIR: our greens in regulation by handicap table, from Shot Scope.
- Fairways: Shot Scope’s handicap averages, collected in fairways hit by handicap.
- Putts: our putting average by handicap.
- Up and down: inside 50 yards, from scrambling percentage by handicap.
- Penalties: Shot Scope’s per-round averages, in penalty strokes per round by handicap.
- Strokes gained: Mark Broadie’s research, per round against a PGA Tour baseline.
What the profile says about the 25 to 30 range
That’s where the typical woman with an index plays, and it’s the part of the table with the most gaps. What’s published for a 25:
- Greens in regulation: 9%, or about 1.6 greens a round.
- Fairways: 50%, the same as a scratch golfer.
- Up and down: 25% from inside 50 yards.
- Penalties: 4.67 a round, about one every four holes.
- Strokes gained: -18.4 a round, with approach (-9.0) the biggest share.
From 25 to 30, strokes gained drops another 3.1 strokes, and 1.5 of that is approach. For the full 30-handicap line, including what’s missing and why, see what a 30 handicap shoots.
The strokes gained numbers use a PGA Tour baseline. Tour players hit from longer tees than any amateur, so treat them as a ruler for comparing handicap levels with each other. To see what a single shot is worth from a given distance and lie, try the strokes gained calculator.
Where your own numbers fit
Your index tells you where you rank. It doesn’t tell you why you’re there. Two women at 28 can get there in completely different ways: one hits half her fairways and loses strokes around the green, the other is short and straight but three-putts four times a round.
To see which one you are, compare each stat to your handicap row instead of to the average golfer. For how the index itself is worked out, see how to calculate your golf handicap, or put your recent scores into the handicap calculator. If you’re new and don’t have an index yet, building a handicap baseline explains how the first scores count.
Log 3 rounds and golfity shows your numbers against your handicap.
