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AGA membership: What it means to you

Your Handicap Club membership with the Arizona Golf Association includes more than just a handicap. Here’s a breakdown of the benefits you and your club receive.

HANDICAPPING
Having a USGA Handicap Index through the AGA means accessibility to post scores and retrieve information from the course or at home via the Internet.

Through a partnership with the AWGA to provide computers and label printers to all golf courses in Arizona with active member clubs, you can post scores on site after your round, whether you’re at your home course or playing a friend’s course for the day. You can also print a current Handicap label wherever you play.

An AGA membership also gives you the ability to post scores from courses across the country through our affiliation with the International Golf Network. Fifty associations are members of the IGN, which makes posting scores easy if you travel or spend part of the year in another state.

Don’t want to take time at the course to post your score? That’s OK. You can also post scores to any course in the country just by logging onto the AGA Web site, azgolf.org.

You can verify your Handicap through azgolf.org, as well as see a complete score history and perform peer reviews. If your e-mail is on file with us, you’ll receive your updated Handicap electronically twice each month. You can update your e-mail address when logged in online or by calling us at (602) 944-3035.

COMMUNICATIONS
Whether you like to read about golf in print or online, your AGA membership has you covered.We offer an array of communication vehicles to serve your needs.

The most widely used is our Web site, azgolf.org, which receives more than 75,000 visitors each month. In addition to logging in to post a score or review your Handicap, you can use the site to book a tee time, sign up for an upcoming event, research a new course or learn more about an array of golf topics.

Four times per year we mail all members Arizona The State of Golf, a lifestyle publication produced just for AGA members. In it you’ll find information on great places to play in Arizona, equipment, travel destinations, profiles of wellknown people in the golf community, rules/handicapping and AGA news. Not receiving your magazine? Log onto azgolf.org or call (602) 944-3035 to be sure we have your correct address on file.

Many of our members prefer to receive updates via e-mail, so we’ve developed electronic communications, like our monthly e-newsletter, which includes AGA news and special member-only offers.

TOURNAMENTS AND EVENTS
Whether you’re a scratch golfer or not, if you like testing your skill against other avid golfers, AGA tournaments are one member benefit you don’t want to pass up. We hold about 70 tournaments each year, some championships played at scratch and others at various handicap levels, so you’re sure to find one that fits your level of ability.

Our annual Father/Son Tournament offers you family bonding time with your dad or son, whether he’s 7 or 77 years old. You can also participate in one or all of our member days, which are held at clubs across the state. They are a great way to enjoy a fun game of golf and lunch with friends at a club you might not otherwise play.

CLUB BENEFITS
Your club also benefits from AGA membership. Taking advantage of these benefits allows your club to offer you an unparalleled experience on and off the course.

Your USGA Handicap Index is dependent on accurate course and slope ratings. The AGA is licensed by the USGA to rate golf courses in Arizona, a service that is offered free to all AGA member clubs. Additionally, the AGA provides course measuring services using state-of-the-art GPS equipment.

Member clubs have access to free software tools. Our tournament software helps manage events by aiding in setting up teams and flights, creating pairings, printing scorecards, generating cart signs, scoring, calculating skins and producing final reports. Our club management software provides your club with a Web site, which includes features that support communication between a club and its members. It serves as a platform where club members can renew their club membership, view detailed tournament information, sign up for events, communicate with other members through a club directory and bulletin board, and more.

The AGA also offers member clubs onsite seminars on everything golf, such as handicapping, the Rules of Golf, marking a golf course and how to use tournament software to set up and manage club tournaments.