THE SQUAD
Affiliate Origins
Management Made Easy
THE SQUAD
The toughest part is making decisions that make everyone happy … We don ’ t make any money doing this thing , so it is truly a labor of love . The most rewarding thing is the conclusion of an event when members are appreciative of the work that was put in and they are happy they came out and played .”
– Hunter Ulrich , The Anything But Par Social Club
Post-work nines and buddy golf trips .
COURTESY PHOTOS
The Anything But Par Social Club in Virginia Beach got its start as a social media account .
The Dahlgren Men ’ s Golf League in Montross was originally known as the Naval Surface Warfare Center-Dahlgren Division Golf Club .
Unclubbed Golf , based in Glen Allen , changed its name from RVA9 to signal an intention to grow beyond Richmond borders as a golf affiliate club .
Every year in the January-February issue , Virginia Golfer magazine publishes an informational directory of all the Virginia State Golf Association ’ s more than 300 member clubs . The listing isn ’ t limited to green-grass facilities — it also includes social golf groups such as the aforementioned trio .
Membership in a VSGA Affiliate Club includes all of the same benefits of VSGA membership through a green-grass facility . Any group of 10 or more members may form their own club for a nominal fee . many members we have that we reach out to ,” says Michael Walder , the VSGA ’ s Director of Handicapping and Member Services . “ We also recognize there are a ton of golfers out there that play together as groups and travel around together . We have all these awesome services we can offer them like handicapping , tournament management , subscriptions to Virginia Golfer magazine . These are some of the selling points . What we are trying to do is identify these groups we don ’ t know that may not be affiliated with us . It ’ s just a matter of them finding out more about our organization and what services we can offer them .”
Walder says it ’ s never been easier for one of these clubs to manage their operation . Everything is web-based now and if there are multiple people at the club that run the show , they all can have access . They don ’ t have to be tied to one computer , which may have been a limitation 15 or 20 years ago . They can all access the administration side of GHIN or Golf Genius to run their events .
“ It ’ s a very easy process now and certainly why we are excited about more opportunity for growth in this type of club ,” Walder says .
He says the VSGA will be targeting par-3 and short courses for membership this year .
“ We will focus on trying to bring in more Affiliate Clubs ,” he said . “ When a group of people create a club and affiliate with the VSGA , it opens up even more options as a group .”
Affiliate Origins
Management Made Easy
“ We understand through National Golf Foundation statistics that there are so many golfers in Virginia , and we know how
Most of the 41 Affiliate Clubs in Virginia are concentrated in Northern Virginia and Richmond .
The Anything But Par Social Club is social media savvy . Point man Hunter Ulrich formed the club in June 2022 with 20 members . The membership has grown to 51 this season . vsga . org M ARCH / A PRIL 2024 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
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