Under the USGA guidelines, a golf club is a group of 10 to 300 people who have the opportunity to regularly play golf with each other. Membership in the Squawpig Golf & Bocce Club is by referral from an existing member.
To issue USGA handicaps, we maintain a handicap chairman (thanks Mike Kinney), a committee and bylaws. The underlying premise of club-issued handicaps - whether you are Augusta National or Squawpig Golf & Bocce - is basically an honor code. We members vouch for each other as to validity of our playing ability.
Our memberhip includes relatively new golfers and those that have been playing nearly their entire lives. We include members who have competed in state and NCAA tournaments and golfers who have never ventured beyond social or charity scramble events. Among our ranks, we count several former greenkeepers and caddies, a former member of the Golf Writers Association of America, and numerous supporters of the Francis Ouimet Scholarship fund, the USGA and other golf associations.