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I learned something new. Takes on 13 holes to post an "18 hole" score.

So if I post a 13 hole score what is the correct number. Do I need to take par from 14 through 18? Or post whatever my score was after 13 holes

If you only play 13 holes, the remaining 5 holes have an "adjusted" score which is added to your 13 holes for an 18 hole score. So what is the adjusted score? It is par plus your handicap for that hole. Yes, it can get complicated. Say I have a 12 handicap for the course I am playing. That means that on the hardest 12 holes I get an extra stroke. Say I didn't play Hole #15 which is a Par 5 with a handicap rating of 8 per the score card. So on that hole I would have gotten an extra stroke so my score whold have been 6. I know you have questions so go has your Pro or go on line to USGA and look under the USGA Handicap System.

P.S if you only play 7 - 12 holes, you post as a 9-hole score.

You take par for each hole PLUS your handicap stroke for each hole. IE. if hole 14 is a par 4, you record a 5, par plus your handicap stroke of 1.

Equitable Stroke Control: ESC is a mandatory procedure that reduces high hole scores for handicap purposes in order to make handicaps more representative of a player's potential ability. ESC is used when a player's actual or most likely score exceeds a maximum number, based on the table below, for the player's Course Handicap for the tees played.

Course Handicap Maximum Number on Any Hole
9 or less Double Bogey
10-19 7
20-29 8
30-39 9
40 or more 10

Example: A player with a Course Handicap of 6 has a maximum number of par plus two strokes for any hole. A player with a Course Handicap of 13 has a maximum number of 7 for any hole regardless of par.

It would also be very helpful to understand what a handicap index is vs. a handicap. Almost all the golf courses in the US have a slope rating assigned and rated by the USGA. This slope rating is to rate the course's difficulty in relation to any USGA slope rated course. The scale I believe is from 50(easy) to 150 (oh wow).
When you travel and play courses other than your home course., You will either receive or give up strokes based on the related course difficuly in comparison to where you received your intial slope index . Each set of tees at a course has their course rating and slope index and is so indicated on the scorecard.Such as blue(71.7-134) or white(69.5-129),etc. That shows the course rating and the slope index for the blue tees and the white tees. For these tees at my home course in a match I receive 18 strokes if we are playing from the blue tees and 16 strokes if we are on the white tees. In other words this gives me a chance in competition on difficult courses.

To DonaldBilly, et al:

If you play at least 13 holes but less than 18 holes, the score that gets posted for handicap purposes is the highest allowable score using ESC.

As an example, you're a 15 handicap. ESC states that the highest score you can take on any hole (whether a par 3 or par 5) is a 7. Therefore, for any hole not played (or completed), you would record a 7 for that hole. If the handicap system you use allows you to post hole scores and not round scores, it should catch this.

At the Tournament Golf Association of America, we have filed a provisional patent for the handicap system we use for our Pro-Net Tour. We have found many flaws with the USGA Handicap System, this being one of them. Under currect ESC, a 7 on a par 3 (+4) carries the same weight as a 7 on a par 5 (+2).

What anonymous said is wrong. the correct answer is what Barbera said. If your handicap is 12, and you play the par 4 that is course ranked 13, you take a par. You do not add any strokes to that. Same with a par 3 or 5. Only if you were suppose to get a stroke in a full 18 handicapped game, would you take the extra stroke to record your 18 hole score.

I am sorry, I misread anonymouses response. He is right.

sorry.

I though I was well informed, but this proves I have a lot to learn...Thanks

The only problem with ESC is high handicap golfers taking 9 or 10 on par 3s The old way of 3 over seemed more realistic