F A Q ‘s
There are few questions asked frequently as the information provided within this website is extensive. The most frequently asked questions are as follows:
1) if I join the Scratch Players Group, do I get a handicap?
No. SPG membership is mutually exclusive of any subsidiary golf clubs of the SPG. If you are looking to establish or transfer golf club affiliation to any related entity of the SPG, you would need to join a specific subsidiary golf club, each of which is affiliated with a different golf association that administers USGA Handicap Indexes. The cost to join the SPG is related to our cost to maintain the member’s area of this website.
2) if I join any one or more of the SPG’s golf clubs, does that also make
me a member of the SPG?
No. SPG membership is available to any scratch player, pro or amateur, worldwide whether they have a handicap or not and requires meeting SPG Bylaw requirements. Only SPG members have access to the SPG member area of this website. SPG club members have access only to webpages on this website specific to such club. In general, SPG membership is the most difficult level of membership available and it comes with voting rights for organizational control including over all subsidiary clubs in addition to the benefits available within the vast SPG membership area of the website. Each SPG golf club has its own separate Bylaws which in most cases are much simpler and basic compliance documents as required by any particular golf association. The cost to join any subsidiary club is primarily a function of what the affiliated golf association charges the club for such club member to be affiliated with the related golf association issuing the Handicap Index along with any other benefits provided by such golf association such as accessibility to their tournaments.
3) Do I need to be a member of the SPG and/or any subsidiary golf club
to play in any SPG conducted tournament such as the SPC?
No. Every tournament conducted by the SPG now or in the future are open to any player meeting the eligibility standards stipulated for each event, none of which require membership in any organization. Any tournament that may be conducted at the club level, such as club championships, would be restricted to members of such club.
More responses will be added here as feedback dictates.