The Golf Handicap and Information Network (GHIN) is a system for tracking players’ scores and assigning a handicap to each individual based on the player’s most recent golf rounds. All VSWGA members are required to keep a Vermont GHIN handicap in order to be eligible to play in State Days or tournaments (although you can play State Days as a guest with a GHIN Handicap Index from another state).
The Vermont Golf Association is responsible for maintaining handicaps for all Vermont golfers. They are the official Vermont source for information. There is a GHIN app you can download to your phone to enter your scores, track your statistics, and look up other players.
Players pay an annual fee to register in the GHIN system through their home club. There may be a line item on your course membership form for the GHIN “Card” or it is included in the cost of your membership. You use your GHIN number to log into the GHIN system and post your scores after each round of golf. The GHIN system calculates your handicap and updates it daily, based on your scores. You can log in to GHIN at any time to see your current handicap.
If you do not belong to a VSWGA member course, you can register for a GHIN card through Lakeside, a virtual golf course or 802 Golf Academy. To join Lakeside, beginning March 1, visit the Vermont Golf Association website, and scroll down to 2025 Lakeside Membership. The fee is $50.
If you have a USGA GHIN Handicap Index at a non-Vermont golf course, contact VSWGA to request that your out-of-state GHIN be linked to a Vermont GHIN. All your scores will then show up under one handicap index.
You are responsible for posting (entering) your scores in the GHIN system after each round of golf you play, whether a casual round or in competition. The system takes an average of your scores to arrive at your handicap. Your golf handicap is the number of strokes above par for the course that you shoot in an average round. Your handicap will differ slightly from course to course, based on the difficulty of the course. You can look up your course handicap for a particular course on the GHIN site or the GHIN app.
The VSWGA will post all State Day Scores and Championship tournament scores (Amateur, Mid-Amateur, Senior, etc.). You are responsible for posting scores if you decide to “No Card” (not submit your score) for a state day (see instructions for how to post a No Card score) as well as for any other golf rounds you play on your own. The following are guidelines for posting your scores.
- Post all scores no matter where you play.
- Post your 18-hole score when you play at least 13 holes. Post your 9-hole score when you play at least 7 holes. On the holes you didn’t play, record a par plus any handicap strokes you would have received.
- All 9-hole scores are to be posted. At a club where you have a handicap index, non-consecutive 9-hole rounds will be combined with other 9-hole rounds posted at that club, and may be any combination of nine (i.e., a front nine middle tee score combined with a front nine back tee score).
- 9-hole rounds posted at a club where a golfer does not receive a handicap index will be combined with other 9-hole rounds posted in the same manner.
- A 9-hole round will be retained in the GHIN system for an indefinite time until it can be combined with another 9- hole round. Once combined, the score should be identified with a score type C, but are not to be designated T-scores.
Don’t Post These Scores:
- Don’t post a 9-hole score if you play fewer than 7 holes or an 18-hole score if you play fewer than 13 holes.
- When you play in a competition limiting the types of clubs used, such as a one-club or irons-only tournament.
- When an 18-hole course is less than 3000 yards.
- When a majority of the holes aren’t played under the Rules of Golf, as in a “scramble”.
- Don’t post “out of season” scores. Each regional golf association has its own season. If you’re traveling, check to see if you’re playing in an active season at the course you visit. Scores made in the “Sunbelt” are always to be posted because the season is year round.