USGA Hopes Updated GHIN App Will Engage Game’s Growing Demos, Encourage More Official Handicaps

Mike Whan doesn’t care what golf companion app you use.

Whether it’s 18Birdies, TheGrint, Arccos Caddie, Golf Genius or USGA’s GHIN app, the USGA CEO just wants people to engage with the game of golf—and get an official handicap.

(It also helps that all of the apps utilize the USGA handicapping system.)

“Our goal is to make sure people love the game enough that they pass it down to the next generation and that grows with each pass,” Whan said at a GHIN media day event at Winged Foot Golf Club. “And we’re having this amazing time in the game right now, so we don’t really care how you get connected and play with other people.

“It’s all about whether or not people are engaging with the sport and if there’s areas that we can fill that gap, we’ll fill that gap.”

Luckily for Whan, the USGA, and anyone else involved in golf, the game’s engagement is greater than ever before. 

Golf’s overall reach is an estimated 136 million as more than one-third of the U.S. population over the age of 5 played golf (on-course or off-course), followed golf on TV/online, read about the game, or listened to a golf-related podcast in 2025, according to the National Golf Foundation. Buoyed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and driven by growing demos including youth, girls/women and People of Color, that number is up 43% since record-keeping began in 2016.

Like Thor’s Mjölnir, the USGA wields a powerful weapon to convey golf’s greatness and encourage engagement in its Golf Handicap Information Network, more commonly known as GHIN. Offered by the game’s governing body in the U.S. and Mexico to golf associations worldwide, GHIN is the largest handicap management tool in the world, serving more than three million golfers and 15,700 golf clubs. Approximately 15 million golfers worldwide have a Handicap Index.

Despite the millions currently utilizing GHIN and/or employing a Handicap Index, there are millions more who aren’t. According to the NGF, 15 million golfers they call “core golfers” played eight or more rounds a year in the U.S. The USGA says 3.68 million golfers in the U.S. maintained a Handicap Index in 2025.

While the USGA doesn’t directly bill for annual memberships, state and regional Allied Golf Associations charge between $30-80 depending where you register. On top of that, the Enhanced GPS upgrade for the GHIN app is $49.99 for a 12-month subscription.

With millions who “play just for fun” and don’t see the value in having a Handicap Index, the USGA's biggest obstacle is proving that utilizing GHIN and having an official handicap makes the game even more enjoyable.

“There’s a delta of 12 million people who play eight or more rounds of golf a year who don’t have a Handicap Index,” said Tom Padula, USGA GHIN product lead. “Our team partners with the handicapping team and marketing team to talk about the value of the Handicap Index, so we’re really promoting that.

“There’s never been a huge focus on marketing GHIN, but now we’re leaning into that at the USGA.”

With Americans averaging five hours per day on their phones and 76% of core golfers having golf-specific apps on their phone, the USGA is leveraging its GHIN app to accomplish two goals: make the game more accessible and easier to understand for newcomers and encourage all golfers to have an Handicap Index.

With the goal of evolving the GHIN app from a posting tool to an in-round playing companion, the USGA updated the app to offer an easier and more intuitive process to start a round, a new-look GPS to navigate the course during a round, green-reading heat maps to plan approach shots, and more data and insights highlighted by a post-round stats page (GHINsights) to see how your game is trending.

Arguably the most significant update to the app is its proprietary Rules AI platform launched in mid-May to “make the rules more accessible and understandable for golfers everywhere.” Existing within the GHIN app, users have the ability to ask specific rules questions and get answers for practical application on the course.

According to the USGA, the tool is “powered exclusively by up-to-date, verified USGA content” to ensure golfers receive answers rooted in the official Rules of Golf and informed by the practical judgement and nuance needed to apply them.

Rules AI has already begun rolling out to select golf clubs via the GHIN app, allowing the USGA to gather real-world insights and refine the user experience before expanding the release to all golfers. Members of Allied Golf Associations will continue to gain access to Rules AI over the next few months with it expected to be available to all GHIN users by spring 2027.

AI will also be working behind the scenes in the GHIN app to personalize experiences whether a user is a scratch handicap or new to the game.

“AI can do some things really well,” Padula said. “It can take large data sets and personalize it for golfers, so how can we create a different experience for you and me using AI looking at data? We kind of want to use AI without golfers knowing AI is in the app; we want it to feel interesting and personalized in the background.”

Originally launched in 2012, this is the first significant update to the GHIN app since 2020. The app is on the verge of public beta testing, following an alpha testing round where the USGA received feedback from friendlies and those in the industry.

The investment in the app is no surprise given AI’s utilization and acceptance in culture and other industries led by ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini and others. 

The USGA, which recorded a record $333 million in revenue in 2025, invested $347 million into golf last year to support its four pillars: Unify, Showcase, Govern and Advance. The bulk of the USGA’s investment ($263.5 million) fell under Showcase, highlighted by its Opens and prize purses, while $20.8 million fell under Unify in support of GHIN, World Handicap System (WHS), handicapping and course rating.

Not only is the USGA utilizing AI like other organizations and industries, it’s also leveraging influencer marketing to highlight the app’s new features and benefits of a Handicap Index. The organization hosted 15 golf creators including Blair Wheeler, Hannah Rae and Roger Steele at the inaugural GHINvitational in Scottsdale, Az., and have been creating content explaining the app, rules and more to engage the game’s growing demos.

The investment in GHIN and the Handicap Index is the USGA’s most significant ever, following initial awareness and marketing efforts tied to the U.S. Open around the time of the pandemic.

“Five or six years ago, we started using the U.S. Open to sort of advertise and say, ‘Hey, come get a handicap,’” Whan said. “But we realized when people came in to get a handicap, the process was confusing and really most people bailed in the middle of the process.

“... We stepped back and decided to create a real easy pipeline so now you can go on USGA.org, go for a handicap and be done in three minutes. The first thing we had to do was make just getting it easier. The second thing we had to do was help people understand what it’s about.”