​What Is Your GHIN Number?

November 05, 2018

If you call the SCGA Member Services office, you will probably be asked, ‘what is your GHIN number?’ Whether it's looking up your membership status, your Handicap Index, scoring record or posting a score, it is your GHIN number that is key.

Your GHIN number, like your Social Security number, is unique to you and is yours for as long as you play golf. Whether you belong to one club or five clubs, in California or in another state, you use the same GHIN number for your respective club memberships. Joining a new club? Always provide the new club with your existing GHIN number along with your email address.

You should NOT have different GHIN numbers at different clubs. Apart from the difficulty of remembering different numbers, you should have one GHIN number and one scoring record. If you find that you have been issued a new GHIN number when you already have an existing number, please contact the SCGA as soon as practical so we can merge your scores under one GHIN number and eliminate duplicate emails from the SCGA!

Tips for SCGA Online Join/Renewal

The first question asks whether you have ever had a GHIN number:

If you cannot remember or are unsure, click on “I don’t know”. Use the search feature to see if your record exists. Pay attention to the records that appear because of your search, particularly if you have a common name (ex. John Smith, Jane Adams). If you select a record that is not your profile, then do not continue as the wrong person ‘s information would relate to you. This also applies if you inadvertently select ‘Yes’ and enter a wrong GHIN number. Start over if the search produces a record that is not your profile. (wrong name, wrong address, wrong state, etc.)

If you cannot remember your GHIN number, call the SCGA Member Services office and we can search the GHIN database to determine if a number has been issued to you. If we find that a GHIN number and record does not exist in the GHIN database, you can safely join a club as a new number, either in person or online and receive a GHIN number to establish a score record.