GAP Member Clubs receive GHIN upgrades

  The Golf Association of Philadelphia is conducting upgrades to the GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network) handicap system during the winter months.

  Mario Machi, GAP Director of Handicapping, and John Manos, Director of Course Rating, are in the process of visiting all Member Clubs that use the GHIN service and change the GHIN system from client-based to Web-based.

  “Typically, with older software versions, you had a CD to install off of or you downloaded a file off the Internet and ran it to install an actual program,” Machi said. “What we’re doing now is removing the software package to a Web based system, and that means any computer with Internet can access the program via a browser that’s secured by a password and log-in.”

  In the previous client-based system, if a Member Club offered score posting stations in both the locker rooms and pro shop, all computers needed to be networked together in order to share the same profile.

  “That could get tricky sometimes because the locker rooms could be in a different part of the building or perhaps even in another standalone building,” Machi said. “With this new system, there is no longer a need to network the computers together, as all that’s required is Internet access. It’s great for us because when explaining the requirements to a club, all that is necessary now is Internet access.”

  Another advantage to the new Web-based platform is timeliness of score viewing. In the previous system, after posting a score via the club’s handicap terminal, a golfer wouldn’t see that score until later that evening or the next morning when the club transmitted data to GHIN.

  “With this system, everything is live, so if you post a score on the handicap computer, that goes right to the GHIN server,” Machi said. “If you walk right outside and bring up your Golf Association of Philadelphia mobile application on your phone, you see that score right away. There is no lag time at all, which is a significant help for us and for the golf shop staffs too.”

  Guest score posting is another advantage to the new Web-based platform.

  “The guest is able to identify themselves by their last name or GHIN number. They see their name and know who their posting as,” Machi said. “That score goes immediately to their record. They can verify it right away by looking at their phone.”

  For GAP Member Clubs, managing reports will be more effective, too. Pro shop staffs print handicap reports to display throughout the club following revisions on the first and 15th of each month.

  “It sometimes can get tricky to remember to do that if you’re a pro shop staff, whether you have an event going on that day,” Machi said. “These new reporting tools we have give you the ability to automate these reports. So what that means from the club level is we can set up a report to automatically send to the club on the first and 15th of every month. The pro shop staffers can see that e-mail and say, ‘I need to print that report.’”

  During the next 18 months, the Association will also perform updates to the handicap program and Tournament Pairing Program (TPP). For more information, contact Machi at 610-687-2340 ext. 20 or via e-mail at mmachi@gapgolf.org.

Golf Association of Philadelphia
  Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 150 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.