The California Golf Association is comprised of the five-person executive committees of the Northern and Southern California golf associations. In addition to three events during championship week (California Amateur, CGA Senior Amateur and CGA Net Amateur Match Play), the CGA also conducts the biennial Seaver Cup matches, pitting an eight-man team from the South against an octet from the North. The CGA also sponsors the CIF-CGA State High School Boys Golf Championship each year.

One significant decision the CGA board of directors employed was the new walking-only policy, beginning with the 2008 championship at Lakeside and Oakmont.

The board voted to require all contestants to walk in the championship proper. Carts will continue to be allowed in California Amateur qualifying events and the CGA will use United States Golf Association guidelines in determining exemptions from the walking-only rule for ADA-approved disabilities.

“The CGA Board decided to have all players walk in the California Amateur in keeping with the traditions established by the USGA in its championships,” says CGA President Ed Holmes of Riverside, past president of the SCGA. “In addition, the use of carts for the event was sometimes a distraction for the players and the Board felt that walking would increase the stature of the event.”

Future California Amateur host courses can all be walked easily, says Holmes (the 2009 championship is set for Lake Merced GC in Daly City). “As we add to the list of courses that will host the state amateur in the coming years, we realize that on an individual basis carts may have to be used at certain venues, but the basic philosophy will be to walk in the championship.”

About the Southern California Golf Association
The Southern California Golf Association is one of the oldest and largest regional golf associations in the United States with more than 160,000 members throughout Southern California.

As the principal ruling body for the game of amateur golf in Southern California, the SCGA administers a computerized, United States Golf Association-approved handicapping system for more than 160,000 men and women at the SCGA's member clubs; has implemented an all-electronic handicapping system in use at all Southern California Golf Courses; measures and provides USGA-approved course and Slope ratings at over 400 golf courses in its region; conducts Southern California's major amateur golf championships; conducts regional qualifying for USGA championships; conducts jointly with the Northern California Golf Association the annual California Amateur Championship each June on the Monterey Peninsula; owns and operates The SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta; provides a wide variety of services to member clubs and individuals; produces FORE Magazine and the Southern California Directory of Golf, and works tirelessly to promote the game of golf throughout its region and the state.

Currently the SCGA has more than 1200 member clubs throughout Southern California and extending south into Baja California (the SCGA's northern boundary is San Luis Obispo and Kern County). Nearly half of those clubs are connected with golf courses, including all private clubs in the region, and nearly all of the semiprivate, resort, and public golf courses in Southern California.

The balance of the SCGA clubs are affiliate clubs: organizations not connected with a golf course but, instead, groups of people who band together out of a mutual love for the game of golf.

The SCGA uses volunteer directors representing all regions of Southern California; hundreds of volunteer committeemen; and a professional office staff of 28 to carry on a wide spectrum of activities, each designed to serve member clubs and the people who belong to those clubs, and to promote the game of golf.

About the Northern California Golf Association
Since 1901, the NCGA has been serving the golfers of Northern California in an effort to provide an enjoyable and fulfilling golf experience; its mission statement is “To support and promote the game of golf in Northern California and to enhance the knowledge, enjoyment and participation of NCGA members.”

The Northern California Golf Association was formed more than 100 years ago by five clubs - Menlo CC, Oakland GC (now Claremont CC), Presidio GC, Linda Vista (now San Jose CC), and San Francisco GC - with the sole purpose of participating in the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship. The NCGA offers many services ranging from Handicapping and Course Rating to Communications and NCGA Golf magazine to Rules and Competition. A permanent staff of 35 is located at Poppy Hills, but the association would not be where it is today without the 18 current directors and all past directors who have represented various areas of Northern California along with the multitude of volunteers who have served selflessly throughout the years offering many hours of their time without compensation.