Golf clubs. In this article we're not talking about the kind that you grip and use to take a swipe at a poor defenseless golf ball with. We're going to talk about the kind that you join. More specifically, what constitutes a golf club and what exactly does it mean to a golfer to be part of one. It's more than just a place to hang out and trade tall tales.
The first thing we need to do is define what a golf club actually is based on the United States Golf Association (USGA) rules.
A golf club is an organization of at least 10 members. The club itself must be operated under some kind of bylaws with committees, which includes a handicap committee. This committee will supervise golf activities, provide reviews and maintain the integrity of the USGA handicap system. The club itself has to be licensed by the USGA in order to use the handicap system. The club can get a license agreement directly from the USGA or through membership in an authorized golf association that is already recognized by the USGA. This association must have geographical jurisdiction in the area where the club applying for membership is located.
The golf club has to specify which type it is and there are 3 types.
1. It is located in one specific golf course with a valid USGA course rating where the majority of the events are played and scoring records are kept.
2. It's members are affiliated to or associated with another organization. In other words, they belonged to another club before forming this one.
3. The members have no prior affiliation and get other members through solicitation to the public through newspapers, Internet, etc.
After the club is formed it must comply to all regulations under Section 8-2m; Decision 2/7. This is a rather lengthy document with about 14 sections in it. Failure to conform to any of the regulation can result in the club being kicked out of the USGA.
To make sure that golf clubs adhere to all the rules and regulations of the USGA, they have set up an audit program for golf clubs to ensure the integrity of the USGA handicap system is being maintained. What the USGA does is randomly select licensed golf clubs to complete the audit program and to show evidence that they are using the USGA's formulas and service marks the way they are supposed to in compliance with the USGA's handicapping system. All licensed golf clubs are subjected to being audited by the USGA regardless of whether or not there is an issue with compliance.
There are 15 items in the audit program itself including the location of the golf club, number of members, who handicap indexes are provided to, if there is a handicap committee, if USGA revisions are clearly posted, if members are given a reasonable amount of time throughout the year to play in events, that scores are verified correct, that scores are posted home and away, that the course itself has been rated within the last 10 years, that scoring records are made available for viewing by officials, that the USGA rules of golf themselves are enforced, and providing any other pertinent information that the club has been abiding by USGA rules.
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