What Does the USGA do?
The USGA is the governing body for golf in the United States and Mexico – but what does the USGA do in this role?
The United States Golf Association was formed in December 1894 and was originally, and briefly, known as the Amateur Golf Association Of The United States. It came about as, earlier that year, Newport Country Club in Rhode Island and Saint Andrew's Golf Club in New York had both put on competitions to crown the “national amateur champion.” So a handful of clubs, including these two, formed a body which would organise an annual championship to find the best amateur. The next year the first US Amateur Championship was held, at Newport Country Club, and the following year the first US Open was held.
Running competitions has remained a large part of the organisation’s remit. Most competitions that the USGA put on are for amateurs. The only exceptions to this are the US Open, US Women’s Open, US Senior Open and the US Senior Women’s Open. In conjunction with the R&A, the USGA also organises the Curtis Cup and Walker Cup.
The USGA is the governing body for the United States and Mexico, with the R&A governing the rest of the golfing world. So the R&A and the USGA are jointly responsible for drawing up and administering the Rules of Golf, as well as the equipment regulations and the World Amateur Golf Rankings. For its own territory, the USGA is responsible for testing golf equipment, to make sure it conforms to the regulations, and for administering the handicapping system.
The USGA is non-profit organisation, so its revenue is reinvested into golf. Its various initiatives include encouraging participation in golf, supporting the career development of those working in golf, promoting sustainability, and preserving golf’s history.
The USGA Golf Museum and Library has more than 70,000 catalogued artifacts, 750,000 photographs and 200,000 hours of footage. The library has more than 100,000 individual items in over two dozen languages including original manuscripts and documents dating from the 15th century. The USGA also administers the annual Herbert Warren Wind Award which “recognizes and honors outstanding contributions to golf literature.”
