USGA Unified Membership & AGA Strategy Discussion

Meeting Intelligence Summary

Date: 2026-02-04 Type: Partnership Discussion Duration: 45 minutes

Executive Summary

NGF and USGA discussed the organization's 5-year strategic initiative to create a unified membership system integrating USGA members and 55 Allied Golf Associations (AGAs). The conversation covered challenges in unifying disparate AGA benefits, opportunities to leverage the GHIN app, and NGF's potential role in providing research and customer intelligence to support this transformation.

Attendance

Present: - Emily Palmer (USGA - 15 years tenure, Executive Leadership Team) - Reid Gorman (NGF - SVP Business Intelligence & Operations) - Sally Sadosky (NGF - Brand Marketing & Voice of Customer)

Action Items

Decisions Made

1. USGA has formally committed to a 5-year joint strategy with 55 AGAs to achieve unified membership
2. Rationale: Need to create better direct relationship with golfers, reduce confusion in membership structure, and leverage USGA brand more effectively

3. Related to: Unified Membership Strategy

4. USGA willing to backstop AGAs financially during unified membership transition

5. Rationale: AGAs' entire financial model depends on handicap system revenue; USGA recognizes need to de-risk the transition for AGA partners

6. Related to: AGA Partnership & Financial Support

7. USGA previously exited tournament software business and partnered with Golf Genius

8. Rationale: Software development not USGA's core expertise; better to focus on leveraging GHIN app and core services
9. Related to: Technology Strategy

Discussion Topics

Unified Membership Vision

Discussed creating a single membership model that unifies USGA members and 55 AGA memberships to reduce confusion and create better value proposition for golfers

Key Points: - Currently 11% of handicap holders joined directly through GHIN online (not via clubs) - AGAs vary widely in resources, sophistication, and member benefits - Prior to 2018, USGA worked with 155 organizations; consolidated to 55 AGAs with standardized agreements - Major challenge is AGAs depend on handicap revenue for all operations - 5-year strategy kicked off November 2025 with all 55 AGAs onboard

GHIN App Enhancement Opportunities

Explored strategies to increase GHIN app adoption and engagement through improved features and frictionless onboarding

Key Points: - USGA has invested significantly in app improvements over past 2 years - Opportunity to add free tier for first 5 scores to drive adoption - Rules AI project nearly ready for launch - uses 30-40K annual rules questions as training data with Deloitte - Playing the right tees initiative could be integrated into app - GPS and scorekeeping features could serve as low-friction entry points

NGF Research & Intelligence Capabilities

NGF presented Golf Oracle brand listening tool and discussed leveraging historical research to support USGA's unified membership strategy

Key Points: - NGF developing Golf Oracle - AI-powered brand listening across social channels, podcasts, 9+ sources - Tool provides sentiment analysis, theme tracking, and competitive intelligence - NGF has 90 years of golf research including recent app marketplace competitive analysis - Proposing Golfer Experience Index (GEXI) to measure experience across golf journey touchpoints - Historical NGF research for USGA can be socialized and leveraged for current initiatives

AGA Relationships & Network

Background on USGA's transformation of AGA network and current partnership model

Key Points: - 55 AGAs now have standardized agreements (down from 155 organizations pre-2018) - AGAs handle all local USGA services: course rating, handicapping, qualifiers, events - AGAs vary significantly: some own golf courses (Northern California), some run 300-400 tournament days (Florida State) - USGA has formal council of AGA representatives participating in unified membership strategy - Meeting scheduled end of Februarywith AGAs and USGA Executive Committee on unified membership

USGA Organizational Structure

Overview of Emily Palmer's role and USGA's leadership focused on membership initiative

Key Points: - Emily Palmer on Executive Leadership Team, oversees Green Section (30-35 staff) and AGA relationships - Previously served as USGA Chief of Staff with deep board connections - Chris Frazier transitioned from Chief Legal Officer to Chief Philanthropy Officer (January 1, 2026), now leads members program - Dave Aznavorian serves as 'Swiss Army knife' supporting membership unification - Member program historically under-invested, now strategic priority with executive committee support

Open Questions

• What unified membership model will work across AGAs with vastly different resources and offerings?
• Should unified membership pricing be standardized or variable by region?
• What specific benefits and features do golfers value most in membership?
• How to message unified membership to get AGA buy-in while addressing their financial concerns?
• What is optimal app roadmap and feature prioritization for GHIN?
• When should older research studies be refreshed to ensure relevance?

Processed: 2026-02-04T13:42:33.981391 Confidence: 82%

Report generated by Meeting Intelligence Agent (MIA) Source: Voice_260204_USGA_utf8.txt