There are over 60 million golfers and over 30,000 golf courses across the world. Like every other sport, golf needs its rules and regulations, as well as official bodies that are responsible for promoting the game, supporting its development, hosting major competitions, and ensuring golf retains its reputation on the world stage.
Across the UK and the world, there are a range of bodies responsible for different aspects of golf’s promotion and regulation. Because of this, understanding who is responsible for what can sometimes get a bit confusing for beginner golfers. As you know, at golfclubs4cash we’re all about inclusivity and accessibility in golf, and sometimes that means doing a little golf jargon-busting. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the biggest and most important official golfing bodies that you might have heard of and explain their roles and significance in more detail.
A closer look at some of the most prominent golfing bodies
The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Scotland (The R&A)
We may as well start with the biggest of them all! Regularly cited as a bucket-list course to play, St Andrews in Scotland houses one of the most popular golf courses in the UK: The R&A (The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews). Founded on 14th May 1754 and now boasting 2500 worldwide members, The R&A is among the largest and oldest golf courses in the UK.
Such is its standing in golf, The R&A oversees the amateur game worldwide and is responsible for governing golf globally, with the exception of the United States and Mexico. Along with the USGA (see below), the organisation co-authors and regularly updates the Rules of Golf. In 2020, the R&A and USGA also implemented the World Handicap System, which allows golf players of different abilities to compete against one another. Perhaps most notably, The R&A is responsible for the Amateur Championship and also the Open Championship (also known as the British Open) - which is one of the four major global golfing competitions.
If you’re playing the course, it’s well worth a visit to the R&A World Golf Museum (also known as the British Golf Museum), where you can learn more about the history of golf up until the present day.
The United States Golf Association (USGA)
Based in New Jersey, United States, the USGA is the governing body for the game of golf across the USA and Mexico. As mentioned above, the USGA co-authors the “Rules of Golf” with the R&A, and also maintains the World Handicap System. Today, membership of the USGA exceeds 9700 golfers.
Like The R&A, the USGA also has a museum attached to it at Liberty Corner, New Jersey. Until recently, it was here that the USGA also tested all golf clubs and balls to ensure that they conformed to the rules of golf, but earlier in 2024 this testing centre was moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina.
As The R&A does for the rest of the world, The USGA hosts major golf tournaments, including the US Open (one of the men’s majors), the US Women’s Open, the US Senior Open, and the US Amateur Championships. In 2009, the USGA teamed up with the World Golf Tour as co-hosts of the inaugural and online Virtual USGA Championship, drawing entrants from over 180 countries.
The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA)
The Professional Golfers’ Association breaks down into several different golfing organisations, including the PGA Tour, the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, the PGA of America and the LPGA. The relationship between these organisations is a bit complicated. The PGA Tour used to be part of the PGA of America until they split in 1968 because of a growing division between club professionals like coaches and managers, and tour professionals who were playing competitively. Through these divisions, the PGA Tour became primarily responsible for organising golf tournaments, while the PGA of America focused on education and coaching players, and running its own separate major events like the PGA Championship.
In terms of the history of the PGA, it was formed in 1901 by JH Taylor, James Braid and Harry Vardon (although it was initially named the London and Counties Golf Professionals’ Association but at its first AGM, this name changed to the ‘Professional Golfers Association’ - the PGA). The organisation’s mission was to raise the profile of professional golfers to help the game as a whole gain more credibility. It was also tasked with ensuring good working conditions for its members, and protecting their general welfare throughout their careers.
The PGA was very male-dominated initially. However, in 1978, the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) was created, following the substantial rise in female golf players in the mid-20th century. Over time, the WPGA morphed into today’s LPGA (the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association). The LPGA continues to regularly collaborate with the PGA Tour, while remaining a separate entity from it.
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England Golf
In contrast to the PGA and R&A, England Golf governs the playing and development of golf on an amateur rather than professional level. Before England Golf’s establishment in 1924, there was no single body in England which regulated the way amateur golf was played, and different county unions managed competitions and rules in different ways. England Golf (or England Golf Union as it was previously known) was founded to promote, standardise, and govern the amateur game.
The EGU established tournaments like the English Men’s Amateur Championship, oversaw the handicapping system among amateur golfers, and supported emerging golfing talent. Many golf legends including Nick Faldo and Justin Rose came up through the EGU.
In a landmark move in 2012, EGU merged with the English Women’s Golf Association to form England Golf. This merger - which exists to this day - placed all aspects of amateur golf in England under the governance of one institution. Today, England Golf represents over 600,000 members and 1800 affiliated golf clubs, is one of the biggest golf governing bodies in the world, and manages the WHS (World Handicap System) in England.
The International Golf Federation (IGF)
Yes, we know, another golfing acronym! Founded in 1958, the International Golf Federation (the IGF) is based near Lake Geneva in Lausanne, Switzerland and has a very specific remit: it’s the global body that represents golf in the Olympic and Paralympic Games (in fact, the IGF was instrumental in getting golf reinstated into the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016).
Golf has had a bumpy ride throughout the evolution of the Olympic Games: it debuted at the Paris Olympics back in 1900, had another appearance in 1904, and then had a 112-year absence! It was excluded following the 1904 games mainly due to low participation. Logistical issues were also a problem, including the resources and space required to build courses, and the time it takes to play a round.
Today, the IGF’s objectives are to encourage the development of golf internationally and promote it as an Olympic and Paralympic sport. It organises amateur team championships like the men’s Eisenhower Trophy and the women’s Espirito Santo Trophy.
With a small core team based in Switzerland, the IGF partners and collaborates with the R&A, the USGA, The PGA and various other golfing bodies to ensure that golf retains and develops its international profile.
Some of the smaller but equally important golf organisations
So, we have covered the big hitters when it comes to regulating, supporting and developing golf and its players in the UK and abroad. There are also many other smaller organisations that are integral to the organisation, regulation and running of golf in the UK. Some of them include:
- Scottish Golf: As its name suggests, Scottish Golf is dedicated to helping and supporting Scottish golfers. Based at Rosyth, it supports around 575 affiliated Scottish golf clubs and represents around 209,000 members.
- Wales Golf: And then there’s Wales Golf, which does exactly the same thing for golfers and golf clubs based in Wales.
- Golf Ireland: Yep… you guessed it! An organisation that exists to help, support and promote golf across Ireland.
- The Golf Teaching Federation Great Britain: This is a federation which is establishing a national and international standard in training for professional golf coaches.
- BIGGA: A golf course’s reputation can be made or broken based on the condition of its greens, and the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) is a membership organisation that supports courses in maintaining them.
- European Golf Association (EGA): the European federation for golf governing bodies in Europe.
- CONGU: The Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) is made up of the national governing bodies for golf in England, Scotland and Wales.
And that concludes our list of the most prominent golfing organisations in the UK and abroad. If there’s anything else that confuses you about golf, then let us know! And in the meantime, you’ll find a wealth of golfing resources for beginners in our library of articles on our blog. Checking out our FAQs for beginner golfers is a great place to start.
