Most amateur golfers I know don't have an official handicap, even though they want one. The federation systems work, they're just slow to get into and slower to keep current — you have to play a minimum number of qualifying rounds at registered courses with marked cards, and most casual rounds with friends don't qualify. FTP's golf handicap is built to fill that gap. It's not a replacement for your federation index. It's a complement.
How the FTP handicap works
The FTP number is a rolling average of your last twenty rounds, with a soft outlier-trim on the worst two. You enter your score after each round — total strokes, plus par for the course, plus the tees you played. The system computes the differential automatically. After about ten rounds, the number stabilises; after twenty, it tracks your real game closely.
Compared to a traditional handicap index, the FTP version is simpler in three ways: it accepts any course (not just rated ones), it accepts any group size, and the maths is more forgiving on a single bad round. That's the trade-off — it's faster to use, but it's not a number any club tournament will accept for prize purposes. For that, you still need the federation index.
Tee times, group rounds, matchplay
The booking layer is straightforward: search tee times at courses near you, hold the slot, and the round you play feeds the handicap. We've integrated the bigger Iberian course networks first; smaller pay-and-play courses in Portugal, Spain and Brazil are coming through community claims, same flow as the other sports.
Group rounds are the social default in amateur golf, and FTP supports the standard formats. Matchplay between two regulars logs as match results — you both end with a handicap update, plus a head-to-head record on your profile. Strokeplay groups of three or four log per-player. Best ball, scrambles and the like log only the format-relevant stats.
When to use which number
Rule of thumb: use the FTP handicap when you and your friends want a quick, current number to play off this Saturday. Use the federation index when you're entering anything official. The two will track each other within a stroke or two for most amateurs; if they diverge significantly, it usually means you've been playing more (or less) than your federation card has caught up to.
Ready? Generate your golf card, enter the last few rounds you remember, and put your next round in this weekend. The handicap snaps fast.