Updated 23rd September 2025
Golf Australia and
PGA Australia
are moving in together
GOLF.com.au will become the new digital home of both Golf Australia (golf.org.au) and PGA of Australia (pga.org.au) including the WPGA Tour of Australasia. This new, unified website will serve to connect everyone around the game — from Australia’s 460,000-plus club members, the almost 4 million Australians who played golf last year, newcomers to the sport, fans of the professional tours and the more than 30,000 people who are employed or volunteer in the golf industry, including more than 3,000 PGA Professionals.
While they have a shared goal of fostering golf in Australia and have collaborated on initiatives, Golf Australia is the national governing body for the sport, aiming to promote participation and interest from amateur to elite levels, whereas PGA of Australia is a member-based organisation representing professionals, including club professionals and professional tournament players and managing professional tours. Golf Australia serves the broad golfing community, raising interest and participation in golf for all involved, including players, fans and industry stakeholders. Meanwhile, the PGA of Australia is a member-based organization representing professional golfers, managing professional tours, setting standards for professionals, and promoting professional golf.
This new home will ensure there is a more seamless delivery of events and greater clarity around communication. Working together reduces fragmentation within the industry, avoid duplication of operations and ensure a united voice, approach and vision for the game, achieving the best possible outcome to make golf stronger in Australia.
This unified digital home for golf in Australia will go live on the 2nd of October 2025, Thursday.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
What does this
mean
for me?
As a member of Cerberus Golf Club, you have your very own personal golfer portal within the site, GOLF.com.au. Log in to view your GA Handicap, track your scoring history, monitor your progress over time and follow your golfer friends.
In additional to your own portal, it will serve as your new one-stop destination for anything golf.
- Explore golf experiences near you. From public courses and driving ranges to mini golf, indoor golf, national participation programs, and your nearest PGA Professional for lessons and expert advice.
Follow the game at every level. Enjoy full coverage of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, WPGA Tour of Australasia, plus amateur championships and pennant competitions nationwide.
Navigate learning and career pathways. Discover opportunities in coaching, club management, turf care, tourism, and more.
Access club and facility resources. Find industry updates, committee tools, and operational support.
Master the rules. Everything you need to know about learning and applying the rules of golf.
Stay informed and inspired. Access news, tips, and content to improve your game, follow your favourite Australian golfers, and learn how to get into golf.
A new and improved mobile GA app!
Moving to this new digital home is not just about the website. This move represents the biggest digital transformation in the history of Golf Australia, with Golf Link being replaced by a platform called Golf Australia CONNECT. This platform will deliver a raft of digital services. The new technology bundle includes handicaps, club competitions, a new Golf Australia app and booking platform, among others.
As part of the transition, Golf Australia will launch a new Golf Australia Official app. This will replace the current GA Handicap app.
The new app will retain the existing handicap lookup feature and introduce a range of exciting new tools to enhance the golfer experience. It will even house your digital membership ID.
From October 2, the new mobile app will be available from both the Apple App and Google Play stores. Further details of the transition from the old to new mobile app will be provided to both clubs and golfers prior to the transition.
Golfers and golf clubs which use apps through Licensed Software Providers (LSPs), such as MiClub, SimpleGolf, Golf Magic, Pulse Club, Golf Genius and GolfBox, can continue to use these
apps.
What is my Golf ID for life?
With the implementation of a GA App digital membership card, Golf Australia will cease to supply any new or replacement GOLF Link cards (i.e. plastic credit-card sized GOLF Link cards).
GOLF Link is the Australian national computerised handicapping service provided by Golf Australia (GA) and commenced operation in 1999. This competerised service also calculates all official Australian handicaps. The GOLF Link system is 25 years old and has limited functionality for today’s golfing needs. Golf Australia is therefore taking this transformation as an opportunity to replace this system with a platfrom that provides golf clubs and golfers a modern, secure and future-focused technology.
With the retirement of GOLF Link comes the introduction of Golf Australia’s new handicapping club management, and membership platform – Golf Australia CONNECT.
This undertaking is a vital upgrade where careful consideration has been given not only to ensure that existing features and benefits enjoyed through GOLF Link are available in the new platform but also ensure it meets modern day security, privacy and technology requireements, maintaining its usefulness well into the future.
As part of the transition to Golf Australia CONNECT, all golfers will be allocated a Golf ID. For existing members of clubs, the GOLF Link number currently assigned to a golfer will become that player’s Golf ID and will remain their Golf ID for life. The Golf ID will no longer change if a player transfers to a new home club.
For new golfers applying for membership and have never been a member of any club in Australia, a Golf ID will be allocated to them by the GA Connect platform.
Golfer account verification process
As part of the Golf Australia CONNECT transition, existing data from GOLF Link accounts will be transferred including first name, last name, date of birth, gender, phone number, GOLF Link number and residential address. In the new GA Connect platform, the only new mandatory data points are email address and membership category.
The date of birth and residential address, currently collected, will assist with the verification of identity for account recovery or sensitive requests and reduce the risk of unauthorised access. It will also allow compliance with age verification requirements, including upholding mandatory and ethical standards around protecting minors.
All golfers will be required to have an account to access handicapping functions on the mobile app or through the new website GOLF.com.au. As part of the transition, all existing GOLF Link account holders will be required to verify their accounts.
This process will require them to enter their Golf ID (which is the same number as their existing GOLF Link number) and receive an email verification.
A security feature of GA Connect is email identity verification. The platform uses the email address that a user has provided their club in order to verify their account when they register on GOLF.com.au or the Golf Australia Official app. This level of security is required to allow golfers to view and edit their personal details and access the platform’s many features.
Further details about this account verification process will be provided to both clubs and golfers closer to the transition date.
Data provided by a club on behalf of the golfer for the purposes of Golf Australia CONNECT will only be used for handicapping and verification. Further, data provided by a club on behalf of the golfer cannot be used for communications or marketing purposes. Account holders will remain in control of the use of their data including communications and marketing preferences.
But GOLF Link calculates all Australian official handicaps, what happens to my handicap after it's retired?
The transition to the Golf Australia CONNECT platform on 2 October 2025 will also see updates to the Australian Rules of Handicapping, aligning us with recent changes to the World Handicap System.
These changes are based on analysis of millions of playing rounds and have been tailored to Australian conditions to make competition fairer and handicaps more consistent and reflective of actual playing conditions in Australia.
The alignment with the World Handicap System esnures Australia is part of the ongoing evolution to make handicapping more inclusive and equitable worldwide. In other regions where the same changes were introduced, the outcomes included having handicap for shorter length courses, encouraged more players to submit scores regardless whether they complete their round or not, and ultimately improving accuracy.
As a result of the back-calculation work, almost every Australian club member should expect some degree of change to their GA Handicap when Golf Australia CONNECT commences operation, projected to be less than +/-0.5 on average.
The updates will be applied automatically by Golf Australia’s system so golfers don’t need to do anything.
So, what's changing?
Consistency Factor Introduced
Improves competition fairness through a new “Consistency Factor”. It provides equity in Daily Handicap calculations for women and girls to better reflect their scoring patterns compared to males.
Revised 9-Hole Formula
Ensures 9-hole Daily Handicaps more accurately reflect half of an 18-hole handicap.
Adjusted Expected Scores for Holes Not Played
Now based on statistical modelling, replacing the old “net par” approach. This provides a fairer outcome for incomplete rounds.
Refined ‘Daily Difficulty’ Calculation or Playing Conditions Calculation
More accurately recognises difficult or easy days, back-calculated to 1 January 2023.
This will remove any mismatch between old and new formulas and ensure Australia’s handicaps are fully aligned with World Handicap System standards. This adjustment takes into account your golf games in the last nine months, providing you with the most accurate and fair handicap possible on Day 1 [2nd October].
What can I do before October 2?
- Check your golf.org.au account details are up to date.
- If you don’t already have an account and you want to view your handicap history online or use the new app, create an account at golf.org.au .
- If you need to change the email address associated with your account, please register for a new account here: www.golf.org.au/registration .
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