WHS Handicap: Posting Thai Golf Rounds From Your Trip

You can post Thai golf rounds to your WHS handicap, but most of the work happens on the course, not in your app. Before you tee off, tell your home club you plan to submit the round. Write down the Course Rating, Slope Rating and par for your tee, keep hole-by-hole gross scores, and get a fellow player to sign the card. Without those details, your home club or GHIN can't accept the round.

Can I post a Chiang Mai round to my WHS handicap at all?

Yes. The World Handicap System accepts rounds played abroad, but each national association has its own route, and most handicap apps can't take a Thai course directly.

WHS launched in 2020 as one system for the whole golfing world. Most golfers assume their usual app works anywhere. It doesn't. England Golf's head of handicapping told Today's Golfer (accessed 2026-10-16) that English members can add rounds from Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the MyEG app, but not from courses outside those countries. That doesn't stop you posting a Thai round. You take the card back to your club instead.

How do UK, Australian and US golfers submit an overseas score?

UK and Australian golfers hand the card to their home club for manual entry. US golfers post it in GHIN themselves, adding the rating details by hand if the course isn't listed.

England Golf sets two conditions. You must declare your intention to submit the score before you play, and a fellow golfer must attest it. Getting the card back to your home club is your job, not the overseas course's. If you're a member of clubs in two countries, report the score to both.

Golf Australia's guidance also runs through the club. Your club enters the round against a generic overseas course record using your score and the course's rating, Slope and par. Each club decides how it handles overseas scores, so ask yours before you fly.

US golfers have the easiest route. You post the round yourself. If GHIN's search doesn't find the course, you type in the Course Rating, Slope Rating and par. If you can't find a rating, the round can't be posted.

What exactly should I record on the scorecard?

Record course, date, tee colour, Course Rating, Slope Rating, par, hole-by-hole gross scores and your marker's signature. Then photograph both sides of the card.

Use this list on the first tee:

• Course name and date. Use the full official name, for example Chiang Mai Highlands Golf & Spa.
• Tee played. Colour and yardage.
• Course Rating, Slope Rating, par. These figures are for the tee you played, not the back tees.
• The nines. Highlands has 27 holes, and every 18-hole combination can carry its own rating. Write down which two nines you played.
• Gross score on every hole. Your club needs them to apply net double bogey and, in Australia, to work out your Stableford result.
• Marker signature and their handicap number if they have one.

Do Chiang Mai courses publish Course Rating and Slope?

Some do and some don't. Ratings may be printed on the card, posted in the pro shop or missing entirely, so check each course on the day.

WHS is a global system, but whether a particular course has a current rating depends on that course and its national body. The Southern California Golf Association (accessed 2026-10-16) warns that some foreign courses don't carry a USGA-style Course Rating and Slope Rating. If a rating doesn't exist, a US golfer can't post the score.

To be honest about it, this is the weakest part of posting a Thai round. Rating information at Chiang Mai courses is less consistent than at your home club. Figures can be out of date after a renovation, as at Gassan Legacy, or published only for the main tees. If the pro shop can't give you a figure, you'll have a good holiday round that doesn't count. Use our best golf courses in Chiang Mai shortlist to choose which rounds you most want to count, and ask about those first.

How do I work out my Course Handicap on a Thai course?

Multiply your Handicap Index by Slope divided by 113, then add Course Rating minus par. Round to the nearest whole number.

England Golf gives the formula as Handicap Index x (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating minus par). Here's a worked example with illustrative numbers, not any Chiang Mai course's real rating. A 14.0 index on a tee rated 74.0 with a Slope of 130 and par 72 works out as 14.0 x 1.150 = 16.1, plus 2.0, which gives 18.1. That rounds to 18 shots.

That matters at long courses. Gassan Panorama and Alpine Golf Resort both stretch well past 7,000 yards from the back tees. Play the full length off a mid handicap and you'll get more shots than at home, but more shots doesn't make it the right tee. Most visiting golfers enjoy the round more from the middle tees, and if you play forward tees, use their rating instead.

Do caddies, gimmes and preferred lies affect whether the round counts?

Caddie advice is fine. Conceded putts go down as your most likely score. A local preferred-lies rule in the rainy season generally doesn't stop the round counting.

Most Chiang Mai courses make caddies compulsory, with a caddie fee of roughly ฿300-400 per round plus a tip of around ฿400-600 (CMGT Golf, 2026). Caddies read greens and pick clubs, and taking that advice is allowed under the Rules of Golf. Our Chiang Mai caddie culture and tipping guide covers caddie etiquette in detail.

Gimmes are the trap. Relaxed groups give each other short putts. Under WHS, a hole you didn't finish goes down as your most likely score, so add the putt you would most likely have taken. Mulligans are a different case. They aren't part of the Rules of Golf, so if you plan to post the round, play your first ball every time.

Preferred lies are common between June and October, when the rainy season leaves fairways soft. Where the course has adopted it as a local rule, play it as instructed and note it on the card in case your club asks.

Do 9-hole and night rounds count?

Yes, if the 9 holes are rated. The 2024 WHS revisions lowered the minimum to 750 yards for 9 holes, so Chiang Mai's short city courses are long enough to qualify.

The R&A's 2024 WHS revisions (accessed 2026-10-16) cut minimum lengths to 1,500 yards for 18 holes and 750 yards for 9. They also brought in an expected-score method, so a single 9-hole score can produce an 18-hole differential without waiting for a second nine. Chiang Mai Gymkhana, a 9-hole course close to the old city, and floodlit Star Dome are both comfortably over that length. Night rounds under floodlights at Summit Green Valley count the same way as day rounds, as long as the course has a rating. As with any course, check the rating before you play.

When should I send the score home?

Within days, not weeks. Send the photographed card to your home club as soon as you're back at the hotel, so the rounds go in the right order.

WHS calculates your Handicap Index from your best 8 of your last 20 scores, so the order of your rounds matters. If five Thai rounds arrive at your club a month late, the committee may have to slot them in around rounds you've played since. Email the photo the same evening with the course, date, tees and ratings in the body of the email. A short Layover trip is easy to track. A longer Lanna Signature week with several rounds needs a simple log, one line per round.

Should I post every holiday round?

Post every round you declared and played properly. Holiday rounds after a long flight, in heat often above 30C, tend to be high, and that's an honest record of your game.

Some golfers only post the good holiday rounds. Don't. Declaring the round before you play exists to stop exactly that. Expect a tough first round, because jet lag and the heat affect your swing and your stamina on the back nine. Early tee times help a lot, especially from March to May. Our first-timer mistakes guide covers how to plan around a slow start.

How does a golf package help with handicap admin?

A package doesn't change the WHS rules. It does put one operator between you and every pro shop, so tee details and ratings can be requested ahead.

A CMGT Golf package covers green fees, caddies, carts, hotel, a private driver, airport transfers and support on the ground. We confirm tee times with each course and can ask for rating details for your tees at the same time. For a single round, booking direct can cost less than a package, and posting the score works exactly the same either way. For a multi-round Highlands Classic trip, one contact for every course saves you a lot of chasing. See our Chiang Mai golf packages for the full list, and send an enquiry with your dates for a quote.