Watching your score on a single hole climb higher and higher can make you ask a very reasonable question: is there even a limit? The question of how many strokes a person can have in golf is common, but the answer isn’t a single number. This guide will walk you through the official rules, the all-important handicap scoring, and the simple on-course etiquette, so you’ll always know what to do.
Let's get the technical part out of the way first. In a traditional game of stroke play, according to the official Rules of Golf, there is no maximum number of strokes you can take on a single hole. Your objective is simply to get the ball into the cup, and your score for that hole is the total number of times you hit the ball to do so. If it takes you 9 strokes, your score is 9. If it takes you 15, your score is 15.
You often see this in professional tournaments. When a player hits a ball into a water hazard that is actually a river multiple times or gets stuck in a nightmarish pot bunker, they have to keep playing until the ball is holed out. Why? Because in professional stroke play competitions, every single stroke counts, and failing to complete a hole results in disqualification. A famous, if painful, example is Jean van de Velde’s triple-bogey 7 on the 18th hole of the 1999 Open Championship, where he had to play out every shot, dashing his hopes of winning.
However, for the majority of us who aren't playing for millions on a Sunday, this is not the full story. Day-to-day golf has a few other systems in place to keep the game moving and, frankly, to keep it fun.
This is where the real answer lies for most amateur golfers. For you to have a fair and accurate handicap, the World Handicap System (WHS) has a built-in cap on how high your score on any single hole can be. This is called your Maximum Hole Score, which defaults to a "Net Double Bogey."
This rule exists for two primary reasons:
It sounds more complicated than it is. Net Double Bogey is simply the score a "scratch golfer" (a 0 handicap) would get on a hole, plus any handicap strokes you receive on that hole.
Here’s the simple formula to figure out your maximum score on any hole:
Par of the Hole + 2 (for a Double Bogey) + Any Handicap Strokes You Receive on that Hole = Your Max Score
To use that formula, you just need to know two things: your course handicap and the "Stroke Index" (or "Handicap") of the hole you're playing. You can find the Stroke Index on the scorecard, it ranks holes from 1 (hardest) to 18 (easiest).
Let’s walk through a few common examples:
Besides the handicap rule, organizers of friendly competitions or golf outings might set their own limits to keep things moving. The most common alternative is "double par." It's exactly what it sounds like:
Another popular format is Stableford, where you score points based on your performance relative to par rather than counting total strokes. In Stableford, a high score like a triple bogey or worse simply earns you zero points, so there is an incentive to just pick up your ball after you've reached net double bogey to save time, because there are no more points to gain.
Rules and scoring formats aside, there is a simple etiquette to know. Even if you're playing a casual round with friends and not worried about posting a score for handicap, there is still a point where you should pick up and move on. This is purely about pace of playing and enjoying the game.
If you're holding your group up, hacking away in the woods trying to make a heroic recovery shot, while the group behind you starts tapping their feet in the fairway, it might be time to concede. Generally, if you've reached what otherwise would have been a double or triple bogey, the jig is basically up for that hole.
Here are some good times to consider picking up:
Remember, the goal of casual golf is enjoyment. Nobody, including the players in your own group and the ones behind you, benefits from letting a single hole turn into a long, painful march.
So, while there’s technically no absolute cap on strokes in traditional rules, the practical answer for the vast majority of golfers is 'Net Double Bogey.' It not only protects your handicap, but it also keeps the game fun and moving quickly. Understanding and applying this guideline removes the stress of blow-up holes and allows you to focus on playing the next in a more clear-minded state.
Keeping track of your Net Double Bogey ad-hoc can sometimes feel like you're doing your taxes mid-round. To make it way easier on golfers, we developed Caddie AI. Instead of trying to guess or do mental gymnastics on a scorecard, the app calculates what your max stroke total is per given hole. Even more handy is the opportunity to get pro-golf advice on the spot and make smart, safe, confident strategic moves on the fly in order that your golf ball stays out of trouble and you rarely reach your maximum in the first place.
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