Golf Handicap FAQ: Can I Start My Own Club?

You bet. If your home course does not have a golf association, you can organize and start one. Form a handicapping committee, following guidelines set down by the USGA, and your club can take part in the USGA Handicapping System.

But you don't even have to have a "home course," or a club based at a course. The USGA also allows what it calls "clubs without real estate."

That means you and nine of your buddies (clubs must have at least 10 members) can get together, form a club, then form a handicapping committee, and - again, following guidelines from the USGA - begin issuing handicaps.

What are those guidelines and how do you go about this? The USGA offers pamphlets and official rulebooks describing and governing clubs and handicap committees.

For information on those publications (or to print a copy of the bylaws), visit the USGA handicapping section here.

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