Since its founding in 1920, the Green Section has led the USGA’s efforts to improve golf course playing conditions and sustainability through research, education, course consulting, technology tools ...

The USGA has announced the recipients of its Annual Awards, honoring three individuals for their significant contributions for the good of the game in the areas of volunteerism, turfgrass advancement ...

The resources below have been created to educate golfers on the 2024 updates to the World Handicap System, which went into effect in the United States on January 16th, 2024.

Learn more about the 2023 updates to the Rules of Golf below. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to the Rules Department any time at rules@usga.org or 908-326-1850.

Below are common questions related to the reinstatement of a golfer’s amateur status. The Rules in their entirety, including Guidance Notes, can be found at www ...

While golf has been played for more than 600 years, the earliest known written rules for the game date from 1744. This early code of “Articles & Laws in Playing at Golf” (known today as the “13 ...

This content was first published in Golf Journal, a quarterly print publication exclusively for USGA Members. To be among the first to receive Golf Journal and to learn how you can help make golf more ...

There is no longer a penalty for merely touching the line of play on the putting green (the term “line of play” applies everywhere on the course including the putting green, and the term “line of putt ...

There is no longer a penalty if a ball played from the putting green hits a flagstick left in the hole. Players are not required to putt with the flagstick in the hole; rather, they continue to have ...

As the primary steward for preserving and celebrating the history of the game, the USGA has expanded its extensive golf photography holdings with the recent acquisition of the Howard Schickler ...

New Rule: Players continue to drop a ball when taking relief, but the dropping procedure is changed in several ways as detailed in Rule 14.3: The new procedure means that there is greater consistency ...

Maintaining a Handicap Index isn’t just useful for better, more experienced players who compete in tournaments. It’s for everyone. In fact, those who play golf mainly for fun can actually get more ...