How do the soft cap and hard cap limit increases to my Handicap Index?

Question

Accepted Answer

Under Rules 5.7 and 5.8 of the 2024 Rules of Handicapping, upward movement of your Handicap Index is limited by comparing it with your Low Handicap Index.

Low Handicap Index: represents your demonstrated ability over the 365-day period before the day your most recent score was played. It is established once you have at least 20 acceptable scores and is re-evaluated each time you submit a score.
Soft cap: if your newly calculated Handicap Index is more than 3.0 strokes above your Low Handicap Index, the increase beyond 3.0 strokes is restricted to 50% of that excess.
Hard cap: after the soft cap, your Handicap Index cannot be more than 5.0 strokes above your Low Handicap Index.
No limit on decreases: there is no limit on how much your Handicap Index can go down.

The caps start to take effect only after your Low Handicap Index has been established. The maximum Handicap Index is 54.0 for all players (Rule 5.3).