Become a Member of the GCGA Today!

GCGA Membership Options

Private club: traditionally a USGA Handicap Index is an annual fee included in your club's membership dues. (Type 1)

Public course: the golfer visits the pro shop and pays a nominal fee for membership which includes a USGA Handicap Index. (Type 1)

Forming your own Club (Type 2 or Type 3) 

Benefits for all GCGA membership types:

• An official USGA Handicap Index (revised 20 times a year)
• Ability to post your scores from home or office on the Internet
• E-revisions (your updated Handicap Index sent to you via email)
• Publications mailed to your home, including the Greater Cincinnati Golf Association Guide
• Eligibility to play in GCGA tournaments and more!

Forming a golf club is not at all difficult. A "golf club" is an organization of at least twenty individual members (GCGA requirement) that operates under bylaws with committees (including a Handicap Committee) to supervise golf activities, provide peer review, and maintain the integrity of the USGA Handicap System™ (see Compliance Checklist, Section 8-2m; Decision 2/7). A golf club must be licensed by the USGA® to utilize the USGA Handicap System. A club can obtain a license agreement directly from the USGA or through its membership in an authorized golf association that is already licensed by the USGA and that has jurisdiction in the geographic area that includes the principal location of the golf club.

Members of a golf club must have a reasonable and regular opportunity to play golf with each other. They must be able to return scores personally. These scores must be readily available for inspection by others, including, but not limited to, fellow members and the club's Handicap Committee.

A golf club is one of three (3) types:

1. It is located at a single specific golf course with a valid USGA Course Rating™ and USGA Slope Rating® where a majority of the club's events are played and the club's scoring records reside; or

2. Its members are affiliated or known to one another via a business, fraternal, ethnic or social organization. The majority of the club members had an affiliation prior to organizing the club; or

3. The members had no prior affiliation and a majority of the recruiting and sign-up of the membership is done by solicitation to the general public (e.g., Internet, newspaper).

An organization of amateur golfers at a public course is considered a golf club if it satisfies the above conditions. If a "golf club" which utilizes the USGA Handicap System is not readily available to you, you can create such a club with a minimum of 20 golfers (GCGA requirement). The club can be formed from business associates or just golfing friends, provided that they live in a close geographic area and play golf regularly together.

If you or your league would like to form a club and become members of the GCGA, call 513.522.4444, email GCGA