Terms: Membership in the Palo Alto Golf Club is on a calendar year basis.  New applications are accepted starting September 15 for the following year.  Current members receive a renewal application (along with an election ballot) in the mail at the end of September.  That renewal must be returned by the end of October.  (Note:  If you do not receive your renewal form by mid-October, contact the club immediately since failure to re-enroll be the deadline involves penalty payments.)

 Application: Golfers wishing to join the Palo Alto Golf Club should print out an application form and return it to the address indicated on the form.  A check for the appropriate amount made payable to the Palo Alto Golf Club must be enclosed.

 Your Index (Handicap): The application will be processed soon after its receipt and will result in your receiving, by return mail, a letter of acceptance. The letter will include a GHIN number issued by the NCGA.  Your new GHIN number is the key to your getting an official USGA Handicap established.  Immediately upon receipt of that number you will be able to post your scores at the Palo Alto Golf Course or at other courses participating in the GHIN program.  (For golfers who already have a GHIN number or have had one in the last two years, the form includes space for providing that number, since each golfer can only have a single GHIN number, regardless of how many clubs they belong to.)

 Posting Scores: You may post scores from games played before becoming a member as long as you know the course rating, slope, and date played. If you need help to accomplish this, another member, or a member of the golf staff will be more than happy to assist you.

 Tournament Play: In order to enter a club tournament an official handicap must be established.  The computer will only provide such a handicap after at least five scores have been successfully transmitted to the system's central computer and the player's index has been reported back to the club's computer. The latter activity occurs at the end of each month. (If necessary a handicap can be manually calculated when new members wish to enter non-major tournaments.)

 NCGA Membership: Within three or four weeks of receiving your GHIN number you should receive a Membership Card from the NCGA with that same number as a membership number. Please be patient since NCGA cards are not issued between Oct. 1 and Jan 20.  If you join between those dates, your card should be mailed to you at the end of January.

Once you have received your card, you can get your handicap sticker after the first of each month at the club.  They are contained in small card files by the computer itself.  You can also check your handicap at the NCGA's website.

Last Updated on 7/04/2003