Short answer. Every game asks "How should we score?" with two choices, Gross or Net. Choose Net and a second question, "How are strokes applied?", offers "Course strokes" (everyone gets their full Playing Handicap) or "Off low" (the low player gets zero and everyone else gets the difference).
How it works
The three modes, as the screen describes them:
| Mode | On-screen description | What it means on the card |
|---|---|---|
| Gross | "Raw scores — no handicap strokes." | Nobody receives a stroke. What you shot is what counts. |
| Net → Course strokes | "Each golfer receives their full Playing Handicap." | Each player's Playing Handicap, after the game's allowance, becomes strokes on the hardest holes first. |
| Net → Off low | "The low player gets zero; everyone else receives the difference." | The lowest handicap in the game plays off zero. Everyone else receives only the gap between their handicap and the low player's. |
Ringer prints the whole chain on the setup screen: "Index → Course Handicap → allowance → Playing Handicap[ → off low] → hole strokes." The order never changes. The allowance is applied first, then Off low, then the strokes are placed by stroke index.
Which games use which mode by default
Match Play and Nassau default to Off low at 100%. Pot (Stroke), Stableford, 9-Point, Sixes and Team Best-Ball default to Net with course strokes. Skins defaults to Gross. You can change any of them when you add the game; see Handicap allowances by game for the percentages.
How it's calculated
Off low uses unrounded playing handicaps. Ringer takes the difference first and rounds once, halves up. That matters when two players sit either side of a half stroke.
Worked example, two players, allowance 90%:
| Course Handicap | × 90% | Off low | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 10 | 9.0 | 9.0 − 4.5 = 4.5 → 5 strokes |
| Player B | 5 | 4.5 | 0 strokes |
If each figure had been rounded before subtracting, A would get 9 − 5 = 4. Ringer gives 5, because the difference is taken before rounding.
In a 2 vs 2 match the "low" is the lowest of all four players, not the lowest on each side.
Good to know
- Where strokes fall is decided by the hole's stroke index: the lowest index holes get a stroke first, and a handicap above 18 loops around for a second stroke. A plus handicap gives strokes back on the easiest holes. See Where your strokes fall.
- Handicaps are frozen the moment the round starts. Changing a game between Gross and Net after that re-scores the whole game from the same frozen figures.
- Gross gives everyone zero strokes, so an unhandicapped player is not a problem in a Gross game. In any Net mode, a player without an index cannot post a net score. See Players without a handicap in a net game.
- On the Handicap Analysis page each game is labelled "Gross", "Full handicap" or "Off the low", with " · N%" when the allowance is not 100.