Commencing January 1, 2006, the USGA published new guidelines in the USGA Handicap Manual on forming a golf club and attaining a sanctioned USGA golf handicap. Forming such a golf club is relatively easy and free. It is important for golfers to understand the new regulations and take advantage of the new rules in order for them to have greater access to a USGA golf handicap index over the Internet.

One of the most important new rules established by the USGA is that golf clubs can be effectively virtual and not associated with a green grass physical location. This means that golf clubs can now be created by members and can be accessed throughout a local community online. These virtual club members may not initially know each other prior to joining the golf club and are solicited by an online service can obtain a sanctioned USGA golf handicap online.

In this regard, the USGA has allowed for three types of golf clubs to coexist equally and offer a handicap and each club must determine its type and they are;

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

2. Its members are affiliated or known to one another via 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., newspaper, Internet).

It is the type 3 club which is of special interest to the every day golfer who does not have access to a private country club membership. In fact, almost 80% of all USGA handicaps are associated with member of such private clubs, leaving only the remaining 20% for the general public golfer. Further, historically, private membership represents less than 20% of the general golfer population which is estimated to be around 26,000,000 in North America. Said another way, over 20,000,000 golfers did not have access to a valid USGA golf handicap in the United States and Canada because they are not members of a private golf club (type 1).

The new regulations allow for online golf handicap services to flourish since it reaches the masses of golfers through the Internet. Benefits for such online golf handicap services include;

Posting your scores are accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Traveling golfers as well as those who play for fun and do not have access to a posting kiosk can do so anywhere the Internet is available;

Tracking a complete history of scores ensures that a golfer can monitor trends. For better or worse, those trends are inputted in to build a plan for game enhancement;

Playing in local, state and national tournaments are now available with the new handicap rules from the USGA. Online golf handicap services offer the player the ability to print an up to date golf handicap card complete with a sanctioned USGA handicap. Players only need to submit the printed card into the tournament office to play in those events;

Other statistics such as game correlation, par percent, average putting per game, per hole, average drive distance and more are available on many advanced services;

Equalizing a game with others so players can adjust the scoring when playing with players of unequal skill.

Experienced golf handicap services allow golfers who live within a 50 mile radius of an established virtual club which has been created by either existing or newly formed golf clubs. Golfers join clubs simply by inputting a zip code of the golfers home or place of business and the online systems of the leading online handicap services assigns the golfer to the appropriate virtual type 3 golf club within seconds.

Peer review is established by accessing online tools which show all golfers statistical history in the club including; rounds played, scores, USGA handicap and other pertinent information. Further, a committee and chairman are established to ensure additional governance. As well, each golfer is solicited to play with at least one other golfer in the club three times in a year and play in an organized club event in order to comply with the USGA guidelines.

For those members who do not live within a 50 mile radius of an established club or do not have an interest in a USGA designation, leading Online services offer a Recreational Handicap (which may not be used at a USGA sanctioned golf tournament) with the same features and benefits including; trending reports, performance analysis, golf handicap, and other statistical and tracking information. Whether the golfer seeks a USGA or Recreational handicap, the cost of membership is typically very inexpensive and can be an important component of monitoring and bettering a golfers game through personal analysis.

Handicapping has come a long way and 2006 is a break away year in that the USGA has broadened its scope by allowing the general golf community to create and manage online clubs.