Help Centre

Each golf club has nominated competition days and you may be welcome to enter as a guest depending on the club's policy on accepting guests into their competitions.

You will need to ask the golf club if their competition days are open to guests generally and to Golfer Social Club Members specifically.

You may also seek to play in Open Tournaments and other Open events

Each golf club has nominated competition days and you may be welcome to enter as a guest depending on the club's policy on accepting guests into their competitions. You will need to ask the golf club if their competition days are open to guests generally and to Golfer Social Club Members specifically.

Submitting a Conforming Social Score via the Golfer app is an easy process, when you start your round, just ensure your handicap information is correct and switch the toggle for a CSS.

1. Ensure you toggle the Handicap details and your GA Handicap and Golf ID number are correct.

2. Toggle the "Conforming social score" button

3. Read the notice and press "Proceed"

4. Press the "Save" button to continue and start your round

5. After your round, have your playing partner digitally sign your card and submit your round

Watch the help video here:

In late 2025 Golf Australia transitioned from the Golflink handicapping system to the DotGolf system. 

Under the Golflink system:

• The old 10-digit GOLFLink number was split into club ID (first 5 digits) and member number (last 5 digits).
• When you joined a new club, the system issued a new number, even though your playing history and handicap carried over.

However, under the current Golf Australia Connect / Golf ID system (post-2025):

• Your Golf ID is now permanent and unique to you, not tied to a club.
• You keep the same Golf ID when moving between clubs.
• All your handicap history, scores, and records remain linked to that Golf ID.
• You can now select which Club will be your home club (and thus manage your handicap), however this selection doesnt change your Golflink number. 

So essentially, the old statement about “getting a new GOLFLink number at a new club” no longer applies — your Golf ID now follows you for life, across all clubs.

12 months from the date of activation with the option to renew annually.

Many people are surprised with how low their initial GA Handicap is. There are a few reasons for this:

• The system is calibrated for the handicap to sit at the low end of what a golfer is capable of - it is intended that a player only plays to or beats their handicap when they play well.
• Many golfers without an official handicap believe the handicap represents the scoring average but this is not the case. Statistically, an Australian golfer plays better than their handicap only once in every eight rounds.
• Initial handicap calculations are made from the adjusted hole scores from the best of the three submitted rounds with reference to the Scratch Rating of the course and multiplied by .93.
• The GA Handicap is referenced to the Slope Rating of a Course to generate the Daily Handicap that a golfer plays from in a competition. The formula is GA H/cap x Slope Rating / 113. Hence, on a course with a slope rating of 130, a player with a GA Handicap of 15.8 will play from a Daily Handicap of 18.

Yes. The handicapping rules require that you inform a new club if you have ever held an official handicap at another club.

When you join a new club and you wish it to be your Home Club where you maintain your handicap, you are required to submit your most recent GOLF Link number.

In late 2025 Golf Australia transitioned from the Golflink handicapping system to the DotGolf system. 

Under the Golflink system:

• The old 10-digit GOLFLink number was split into club ID (first 5 digits) and member number (last 5 digits).
• When you joined a new club, the system issued a new number, even though your playing history and handicap carried over.

However, under the current Golf Australia Connect / Golf ID system (post-2025):

• Your Golf ID is now permanent and unique to you, not tied to a club.
• You keep the same Golf ID when moving between clubs.
• All your handicap history, scores, and records remain linked to that Golf ID.
• You can now select which Club will be your home club (and thus manage your handicap), however this selection doesnt change your Golflink number. 

So essentially, the old statement about “getting a new GOLFLink number at a new club” no longer applies — your Golf ID now follows you for life, across all clubs.