Frequently Asked Questions
Affiliate Clubs within Type 1 Clubs
What is an “affiliate” golf club?
The USGA defines three (3) categories of golf clubs:
1. Type 1 – clubs whose members are located at a single specific golf course with a valid USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating where a majority of the club’s events are played and where the club’s scoring records reside;
2. Type 2 – clubs whose members are affiliated, or known to one another via a business, fraternal, ethnic, or social organization; and
3. Type 3 – clubs whose members had no prior affiliation and a majority of the recruiting and sign up of the membership is done by solicitation to the public (e.g., newspaper, Internet).
Southern California’s golf associations use the term “affiliate” club to define “Type 2” golf clubs.
Can an affiliate club also be a “Type 1” or green grass club?
Yes. Whenever a club that affiliates primarily with one USGA licensed / authorized golf association decides to avail itself of the affiliation and benefits of another USGA licensed / authorized golf association, the secondary club created by that decision becomes a Type 2 or affiliate club. Why? Because the 1st association continues to perform the course’s USGA Course and Slope Ratings.
Can a portion of a Type 1 club in another association form an affiliate within PLGA?
Yes. Technically, the membership rosters of all dual association affiliates are separate golf clubs for the purposes of Southern California’s Electronic Handicapping System, and whether that separate club is a precise duplicate of another association’s club or a mere portion thereof makes no difference.
Are there differences in the benefits provided Type 1 and Affiliate Golf Clubs in the Public Links Golf Association of Southern California (PLGA)?
With respect to all membership, handicapping, tournament, committee, educational, promotional, informational and governing functions save two, there are no differences. Because they are not attached to a single golf course, traditional affiliate clubs have no need for Course Rating services and no need for posting computers (EHS 2000). PLGA provides both of these functions free to its member Type 1 clubs. Because affiliate clubs that are also Type 1 clubs in another association (dual members) receive Course Rating and EHS 2000 services from another association, they have no need to duplicate such services with PLGA.
Why would golf clubs that are already Type 1 members in a USGA authorized / licensed golf association join another USGA authorized / licensed golf association as an affiliate when their USGA Handicapping and Course Rating needs are already being taken care of by their primary association?
To avail themselves of the unique benefits of another association.
Generally, this means access to another association’s tournament program, but in the case of PLGA, this often means access to services unique to the largest exclusively public association in the national USGA family as well. As an association dominated by municipal type 1 golf clubs, PLGA focuses a disproportionate share of its attention on those aspects of the game unique to the public sector, e.g., the need to develop the complicated institutions necessary to communicate effectively with governments and bureaucracies as opposed to private parties, the need to constantly advocate for the principles of affordability and accessibility in a business, political and market climate often hostile to those principles, and the need to pursue a municipal golf culture in which high standards and the public sector are mutually compatible as opposed to mutually exclusive concepts.
Again, because all of its energies are focused upon the public sector, PLGA’s Foundation caters almost exclusively to junior golf support in that sector – as title sponsor of the Los Angeles County Junior Golf Championships, sponsor of the Girls Southern Section CIF Golf Championships, sponsor of the City of Los Angeles’ Northeastern San Fernando Valley junior golf programs, initiator of the City of Los Angeles’ Marty Tregnan Golf Academy, and supporter of the Los Angeles City Junior Championships, the Los Angeles City Summer Junior Golf Leagues, and the Long Beach Junior Golf Association.
Do affiliates of Type 1 Clubs Receive Duplicate Handicapping Services?
Yes. However, in order to avoid confusion, ALL of Southern California’s golf associations are part of the same “Southern California Electronic Handicapping System,” a system provided not by any individual association but collectively and seamlessly by a third party vendor (Integrated Data Company). While dual association members are outfitted with separate membership cards and separate monthly handicap stickers from their respective associations, those cards and stickers carry identical 6-digit membership numbers. Dual members post in the identical fashion and to the identical 6-digit number whenever and wherever they post, whether at a PLGA or SCGA course in Southern California or at a course out of state. Both associations are members of the International Golf Network (IGN), a protocol that allows PLGA and SCGA members to post scores in other regions and have those scores electronically routed back to the Southern California Electronic Handicapping System.
Can dual affiliation cause members to receive two different Handicap Indexes?
No. A dual member’s PLGA and SCGA Handicap Index, scoring file, performance report, etc. will always be IDENTICAL. Why? Again, because both associations subscribe to the same third party vendor for provision of the Southern California Electronic System software.
What is unique about the PLGA Tournament Program?
PLGA has a two-track tournament program. In deference to the fact that the vast majority of the golfing population belongs to the “recreational golfer” category, i.e., the proverbial 16 Handicapper, PLGA conducts an extensive competitive program for such “recreational golfers” – both a team play program and one containing a number of individual, four-ball, and 4-man team events.
The second track of the program is the Championship program. PLGA puts on the Southern California Amateur Public Links Championship, the City of LA / PLGA Match Play Championship and the Southern California Senior Amateur Public Links Championship as well as a couple of other championship caliber events. For those players who distinguish themselves in these events, PLGA sponsors players in the following major individual and team events:
Pacific Coast Amateur Championships – the West’s only major amateur championship that awards USGA Walker Cup points. PLGA has three exemptions into this annual event, which in 2006 will be played at San Francisco’s famed Olympic Club. Under the new USGA Rules of Amateur Status, PLGA picks up expenses for its three (3) exempt players.
Southwest Team Championships – an 8-man team competition (4 mid amateurs & 4 seniors [50]) conducted annually among a number of southwestern golf associations, including the state associations of Arizona, Utah, Southern Nevada and Colorado. PLGA picks up the expenses for its 8-man team. The 2006 event will be played at the Legend Trail Golf Resort in North Scottsdale, the site of a recent Arizona State Amateur Championship.
Lima International Championship – a two-man event composed of teams from South America, North America and Europe. It is a World Cup type format – both players play an Individual Stroke Play competition with the team competition determined by the combined aggregate 72-hole scores of both players. PLGA underwrites expenses for its annual team.
Because PLGA caters exclusively to the public sector and because public sector golf is disproportionately made up of persons who work for a living, both tracks of the Association’s tournament program are conducted disproportionately on weekends. That includes the Senior Amateur Championship.
Are members of affiliate clubs eligible for PLGA golf tournaments on the same basis as members of Type 1 clubs?
Yes, including the Team Play program, which supports a format that allows affiliates to compete on a level playing field with green grass clubs.
Are members of affiliate clubs eligible for selection and PLGA subsidy for the Pacific Coast Amateur Championships, Southwest Team Championships, and Lima International?
Yes.
Are members of affiliate clubs eligible for receipt of expense reimbursement as permitted under USGA Rules of Amateur Status?
Yes.
Are members of affiliate clubs eligible for service on PLGA Committees, including the Executive Committee?
Yes. While PLGA categorizes clubs per USGA definition, it does not distinguish them for any other purpose. Members of affiliate clubs are eligible for service on all committees – Executive, Course Rating, Tournament, Rules, Public Affairs, Communications, etc.
Are members of PLGA affiliate clubs eligible to participate in events sponsored by the California Golf Association (CGA)?
Yes. Membership in any kind of PLGA golf club allows one to play in the California State Amateur Championship, the California Senior Amateur Championship, and the California Net Amateur Championships. In addition, it allows one to represent the State of California on the biannual USGA State Team Championships.
Are there any differences in fee structure between Type 1 and Affiliate clubs?
With the exception of the $15 per month Internet Connection fee paid by the green grass clubs that are provided EHS 2000 posting computers at the sole expense of PLGA, there are no differences. PLGA charges its member clubs, all three types, an annual per capita fee of $23. There are no “club fees,” reinstatement fees, late fees, or ancillary fees of any kind.
The $23 per capita fee operates on a 14-month calendar – from November 1 of the previous year to December 31 of the current year. New members entered into the Electronic Handicapping System after October 1 receive membership benefits for the remainder of that year and the entirety of the following year.
New clubs that join PLGA after June 1 pay a $12 per capita fee for the remainder of the year; however, new members of existing clubs still pay $23.
Are there any differences between Type 1 clubs and Affiliate clubs when it comes to governing and representational rights?
No. There are no “classes” of membership for the purposes of governing the Association. Governing authority of the PLGA is vested in a “Board of Directors,” which is composed of the designated Delegate of each member golf club. This Board meets once-per-month January through November at a member course to conduct the business of the Association. Between such meetings, the governing authority is reposed in an eleven (11) member Executive Committee, nine (9) of whose members are elected annually by that same Board. PLGA Staff is hired by and answerable to the Executive Committee. It is charged with carrying out the policies and directives as fashioned by the interactive dynamic of the Board and its elected handmaiden Executive Committee.
Per Capita dues are the sole province of the Board of Directors. Changes to the dues structure require a 2/3 vote of the Members Clubs present at any monthly Association business, but only upon 30-day notice of such consideration.
How prevalent is the Affiliate club within a Type 1 club of another USGA licensed golf association?
It is a more common phenomenon than most would guess. There are Type 1 clubs, both PLGA and SCGA that achieve what amounts to dual association membership by simply creating a second club out of the entirety of the primary club – same membership roster, same officers, etc. There are many more Type 1 clubs that allow their members on a discretionary, case-by-case basis to achieve this dual membership for only those members who desire it – allowing them to accomplish dual association membership without having to join a second golf club.
