News

St. Louis, MO - Active Score Posting Season has arrived for all members of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association in Missouri and Southern Illinois. This means you and your buddies will be looking to post scores and compare handicap indexes soon. For information on how to renew your account, scroll down and continue reading. There are multiple ways to create or renew a GHIN Handicap - you will be a member of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association no matter which option you choose: 

1. You can get set up at your local home club or course. If you have a course that you spend most of your time playing or are a member of, join right there in the clubhouse! Give them a call or walk inside and simply ask if you can join or renew your handicap membership. Pay the club their Handicap fee to them and you will be on your way to keeping score!

2. Join one of our eClubs! Don’t have a membership with a club? Are you a multi-course floater or public course golfer? This is the place that’s perfect for you! We have 2 eClubs that you could join depending on your residence (more information below) . Simply sign up online on our website, pay, and be on your way! Fee for our 2 eClubs is $35 annually - auto renewal available.

3. Join - or create - a club without real estate. Are you a part of a golfing group or business that does not have their own physical green grass course, but love to play? Always practicing at a facility that does not have an actual golf course? Ask them if they have a GHIN Handicap membership option! This is a great option for groups of golfers that do not have a home course, but regularly play or practice together, possibly at the same facility. We currently have 11 facilities, leagues, or groups that fall into this category, so ask around and check it out to see if your favorite place or group is set up for GHIN Handicaps!

 

NOTICE TO e CLUB MEMBERS:
We did switch systems this year, so ALL eClub members DO have to manually renew their membership again. We know this may come as an inconvenience for the year, but upon renewal, you can reselect for auto renewal going forward from this year. This new system will hopefully make things easier and smoother for everyone as we continue on.  

Missouri Residents (Metropolitan eClub): Click Here
Southern Illinois Residents (SIGA eClub): Click Here

 

Steps to Renewing through the eClub:
1. Click the link above that coincides with your residence. Not sure? When you click on the link it will have a list of each county that falls into the eClub. If you do not see your county come back to this page and select the other link.

2. Answer the question on the bottom of the page: “Do you now or have you ever had a Handicap ID(GHIN number)?” If you have ever had a USGA GHIN Handicap Index Number at any point in your life, you should answer YES. If you are unsure of what the number is or the email associated with that account would be, give us a call and we can help you!

3. If Yes, enter your GHIN Number AND your email address associated with the account. If No, See the Set of Instructions Following these.

4. Click Send Verification Code

5. Copy or Enter the Code into the provided space and Click Continue. Note: The Code will be sent to the email address you provided for your account.

6. Review your account information. Change anything that is not still correct. Click Continue.

7. Select your membership fee. Click Continue to Payment.

8. You will reach the payment page at this time. Input your card information. You will also have the option to opt in to auto-renew right underneath the payment information. 

9. Click I Agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of the USGA

10. Click I Agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association

11. Click Submit. Your page will reload and provide a message stating that your account is activated. You should also receive a confirmation email. You are now good to go for the year!

 

NEW GHIN Users Signing Up through the eClub:
1. Click the link above that coincides with your residence. Not sure? When you click on the link it will have a list of each county that falls into the eClub. If you do not see your county come back to this page and select the other link.

2. Answer the question on the bottom of the page: “Do you now or have you ever had a Handicap ID(GHIN number)?”

3. If No, enter the required information to get started (Name, email, number, birth date, and gender) and continue to follow the instructions through to the end. Click Continue.

4. Enter your address. This information allows the system to make sure you are being placed within the Golf Association that will best serve you based on your location. Click Continue.

5. Select your membership fee. Click Continue to Payment.

6. Input your Payment information. You will also have the option to opt in to auto-renew right underneath the payment information. If interested, just click the box.

7. Click I Agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of the USGA

8. Click I Agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association

9. Click Submit Application. Your page will reload and provide a message stating that your application has gone through. If there is a problem with your application such as registering under the wrong eClub based on your location or if you are outside of our jurisdiction, you will receive notification of a rejected application. If you feel this is a mistake or unsure why you were rejected, please contact us.  

10. Create your Digital Profile! Once your application has been approved, you will receive confirmation, as well as an email with a link to create your digital profile. This is how you will sign in to your GHIN account through the app and online. Follow the link in the email to set up your account password. If you fail to receive a Digital Profile set up email, contact us so we can get one re-sent to you right away!

11. You are all set! Now you can go play and post your scores to your account. Happy Golfing!

 

THINGS TO NOTE:

Once you establish your GHIN Handicap Number, that is your number for life! Your scores will remain in your account no matter where you go or have your membership. Even if you move to a different state, you will still be able to use that established Handicap Number. Simply provide your existing Number when registering your account at a new club, course, or association. Even if you have not had the account active for many years, it can still be found in the system, so check with the Association or person helping set up your account before jumping into a brand new account. If you accidentally created multiple accounts or think you may have more than one GHIN Number floating around out there, give us a call so we can help you get all of your information into one account to avoid any future confusion. You only need and should only have 1 GHIN Account. Keeping multiple GHIN Indexes is prohibited by the USGA.   

Your Handicap Index payment is valid for one year. For some clubs, they will set their Handicap member accounts to expire in December or at the first of the year. If you have a membership through a physical club, check with them to see when your account will expire. For our eClub members, Great News! Your membership does not lapse until a year from the date you paid. So if you signed up or renewed on March 1, 2024 then your account will remain active until March 1, 2025. You will receive a notification through email before that date reminding you that your membership is set to expire, or if signed up for auto-renew, that it will renew on that date. It will provide you with the option to change the payment method at that time if you need to. If there is a problem with your payment going through, it will notify you on the date of renewal of this issue. 

Do not forget to create that Digital Profile! Without the digital profile set up, you will not be able to log in to your account and post scores. If you have trouble logging in, never received digital profile set up information, or any other problems, please contact us so we can help.

 

Want to know more about Handicapping and Things to Know to Prepare for the Season? Read this article: https://www.metga.org/Blog/449136/Preparing-for-Active-Season-Things-to-Know