Frequently Asked Questions
The VGA in Full Detail
Frequently Asked Questions
The VGA is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The mission of the VGA is to enrich the lives of Veterans and their family members through the sportsmanship and camaraderie of golf. Annually, the VGA hosts more than 1300 local tournaments across the country, culminating in a VGA National Championship each fall. Our goal is to give Veterans and their family members an opportunity to develop more active lifestyles, build stronger bonds, and provide a competitive outlet through the game of golf.
Active duty, retirees, and honorably discharged members of the armed forces that are either amateur or professional golfers are eligible to join and compete in the VGA. However, professional golfers or PGA pros must compete in the A-Flight or Championship flight, regardless of their handicap index.
Additionally, any family members whose grandparents, parents, spouse, siblings, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, have served in the armed forces are eligible to compete in the VGA Family Division. Spouses and dependents (18+) of Veterans are encouraged to apply for VGA membership to join their loved ones on the golf course.
Local VGA Tour
The VGA Tour lasts from September 1st – August 31st each year. VGA membership subscriptions are $76 per person and are auto-renewed on September 1st each year. During the regular VGA Tour season, the VGA charges a $20 registration fee per tournament, which is used to help the VGA cover the administrative costs of running the organization. At each tournament, VGA members are expected to pay the golf course directly for any greens fees or cart fees, which we negotiate with each golf course. Typically, we try to keep the greens fees and cart fees between the ranges of $35 – $55 per round.
VGA members can compete in any VGA Tour event across the country, regardless of the region in which they reside. VGA members compete in one of five divisions – Veterans, Female Veterans, Combat Wounded (Purple Hearts Only), Family, and Senior. Each division is further broken down into flights, based on a player’s handicap index and skill level.
VGA State Championships
The VGA State Championships typically commence in July every year. You must have an established VGA handicap index to play in a State Championship. The cost of competing in a State Championship is generally $99 and includes the greens fees and cart fees for 18-holes of competitive golf. Eligible players can compete in as many State Championships as they would like, given that there are slots available for them to do so.
VGA Regional Championships
Each VGA Regional Director is required to host a VGA Regional Championship tournament in their region. VGA Regional Championships typically commence in August every year, and will host approximately 120 players. You must play in a State Championship to advance to a Regional Championship unless you are a VGA State Director. All VGA State Directors automatically advance to their region’s Regional Championship for their volunteer efforts throughout the season/year coordinating and hosting their state’s tournaments. Eligible players can compete in as many Regional Championships as they would like, given that there are slots available for them to do so.
The cost for competing in a VGA Regional Championship is generally $199 and includes the greens fees and cart fees for 36 holes of competitive golf. Eligible players can compete in as many Regional Championships as they would like, given that there are slots available for them to do so. Twenty players from each Regional Championship will advance to compete in the VGA National Championship.
VGA National Championship
Approximately 80 players (20 from each region – North, South, Central, and West) will compete in the annual VGA National Championship. The VGA covers the following costs for players that advance to the VGA Championship: food, lodging & golf. Players are responsible for their own travel to and from the VGA Championship. Players are also required to bring a money order payable to the VGA for $200, which helps the VGA cover the costs associated with bags and gifts for the participants.
Your VGA membership is valid from September 1 – August 31 and will be automatically renewed on September 1st each year.
If you are having any technical issues signing up or registering for the VGA, please contact the VGA Chief of Staff, Joan Tishman at 503-510-8336 or joan@vgagolf.org.
Once you have completed the registration form and made your membership payment, you will be able to sign in to the membership portal immediately.
Once you’ve joined and gained access to your portal, your membership will sync with our registration system overnight. Once that has occurred, you will be able to register for tournaments. If you have difficulty registering for events after this period, please contact your State Director, Region Director, or the VGA Chief of Staff, Joan Tishman at 503-510-8336 or joan@vgagolf.org.
Your State Director will provide you a GGID number for Golf Genius that you will use to record live scoring only. No password is required. If you are still having issues, please ask your State Director for assistance.
The VGA plays private, public, and MWR courses. Our goal is to play quality courses at the best price with the intent of securing as many courses as feasible in each member’s home state throughout the season. Your VGA State and Regional Directors work hard to secure the best courses at the best possible rates to pass those savings onto all VGA members.
Yes. The VGA Senior Division is for all VGA members 50 years of age and older. Each flight winner from the Senior VGA Championship will advance to compete in the VGA National Championship and will play in the corresponding flight to the player’s index.
Yes. However, there are no senior tees at the State, Regional or National Championships. All senior division players must compete in one of the following divisions for those Championships: Male Veteran, Female Veteran, Wounded Veteran or Family.
All VGA events are flighted according to the player’s ability and VGA handicap index. The VGA is divided into flights based on an individual golfer’s skill level. The VGA does our best to make sure that players are competing against other players of similar skill and ability. Players are required to compete in their flight based off of their current VGA Handicap index.
Yes. Men’s Handicap Indexes and Playing Handicaps are capped at 36 while Women’s Handicap Indexes and Playing Handicaps are capped at 40.
The VGA Tour points system is designed to provide a qualification system for all VGA Tour members into the Regional and National Armed Forces Cup, an annual Ryder Cup-style VGA Tournament held in October and May each year. To qualify for the National Armed Forces Cup, players must finish in the top two points per branch per region. To qualify for the Regional Armed Forces Cup, players must finish with the top eight points per branch per region.
Regular Season Points Matrix
Participation:
For each regular season VGA event that a player participates in, they will receive 10 participation points regardless of the results of the event.
Competition
If a player competes in a regular-season event with five or more players in their flight, additional competition points will be awarded as follows:
1st place – 5 points
2nd place – 4 points
3rd place – 3 points
4th place – 2 points
5th place – 1 point
All additional places will be awarded zero additional points.
If a player competes in a regular-season event with four or less players in their flight, additional competition points will be awarded as follows:
1st place – 3 points
2nd place – 2 points
3rd place – 1 point
All additional places will be awarded zero additional points.
Post Season Points Matrix – State Championship Events
Participation:
For each VGA state championship a player participates in, they will receive 15 participation points regardless of the results of the event.
Competition:
If a player competes in a state championship event with seven or more players in their flight, additional competition points will be awarded as follows:
1st place – 7 points
2nd place – 6 points
3rd place – 5 points
4th place – 4 points
5th place – 3 points
6th place – 2 points
7th place – 1 point
All additional places will be awarded zero additional points.
If a player competes in a regular-season event with six or less players in their flight, additional competition points will be awarded as follows:
1st place – 4 points
2nd place – 3 points
3rd place – 2 points
4th place – 1 point
All additional places will be awarded zero additional points.
Post Season Points Matrix – Regional Championship Events
Participation:
For each VGA regional championship a player participates in, they will receive 20 participation points regardless of the results of the event.
Competition:
If a player competes in a regional championship event with ten or more players in their flight, additional competition points will be awarded as follows:
1st place – 10 points
2nd place – 9 points
3rd place – 8 points
4th place – 7 points
5th place – 6 points
6th place – 5 points
7th place – 4 points
8th place – 3 points
9th place – 2 points
10th place – 1 point
All additional places will be awarded zero additional points.
If a player competes in a regional championship event with nine or less players in their flight, additional competition points will be awarded as follows:
1st place – 6 points
2nd place – 5 points
3rd place – 4 points
4th place – 3 points
5th place – 2 points
6th place – 1 point
All additional places will be awarded zero additional points.
Post Season Points Matrix – National Championship
The VGA will not award any additional points for members that make it to the VGA National Championship.
The overall VGA champions, male and female, must be Veterans and win their Championship A Flight with the lowest overall gross score during the VGA National Championship.
The VGA consists of 5 divisions: Veterans, Female Veterans, Combat Wounded Veterans, Family, and Seniors
Each division contains 4 flights, as follows:
Veterans Division (Male)
A Flight – 0-4.9 handicap (Gross Flight)
B Flight – 5-9.9 handicap (Gross Flight)
C Flight – 10-14.9 handicap (Gross Flight)
D Flight – 15+ (Net Flight)
Veterans Division (Female)
A Flight – 0 – 10 handicap (Gross Flight)
B Flight – 10.1 – 17 handicap (Gross Flight)
C Flight – 17.1 – 23.9 handicap (Gross Flight)
D Flight – 24+ (Net Flight)
Combat Wounded Division (Purple Heart Recipients Only)
A Flight – 0-9.9 handicap (Net Flight)
B Flight – 10-14.9 handicap (Net Flight)
C Flight – 15-19.9 handicap (Net Flight)
D Flight – 20+ (Net Flight)
Family Division
A Flight – 0-4.9 handicap (Gross Flight)
B Flight – 5-9.9 handicap (Gross Flight)
C Flight – 10+ (Net Flight)
Female Flight – Net Flight
Seniors Division (50+)
A Flight – 0-9.9 handicap (Net Flight)
B Flight – 10-19.9 handicap (Net Flight)
C Flight – 20+ handicap (Net Flight)
Female Flight – Net Flight
All new VGA members, males and females, without an established VGA Handicap Index will compete in a co-ed, Gross “No Handicap” Flight.
During the VGA Tour Regular Season, each tee will be in the approximate distance ranges as follows:
Championship/A Flight: ~6,500 – 6,800 Yards (commonly Blue)
B, C, and D Flights: ~6,000 – 6,300 Yards (commonly White)
Females: ~5,000 – 5,500 Yards (commonly Red)
Seniors: (A-C Flights, Ages 50-59): ~6,000 – 6,300 Yards (commonly White)
Seniors (A-C Flights, Ages 60-69): ~5,700 – 5,900 Yards (commonly Gold)
Super Seniors (A-C Flights, Ages 70+): ~5,000 – 5,500 Yard (commonly Red) *Must be rated for gender.
By rule, an amputee may move up one tee box from his/her assigned tee box.
Note: These also will be the typical yardages that will be used for all State, Regional, and National VGA Championships.
No Handicap Flight:
a. Males up to 59 years old will be assigned to the tee box that is approximately 6,000 yards, commonly the white tees.
b. Males 60-69 years old will be assigned to the tee box that is approximately 5,500 yards, commonly the senior tees.
c. Females and males 70+ will be assigned to the tee box that is approximately 5,000 yards, commonly the red tees.
By rule, an amputee may move up one tee box from his/her assigned tee box.
The VGA Tour season begins September 1st and ends August 31st with the playoff season beginning June and lasting through August.
The VGA utilizes the USGA’s Rules of Golf to administer our local, regional, and national golf tournaments. However, to help speed up events, the VGA imposes double par maximum per hole. For example, if a player has 6 strokes on a par three, they must pick up and move on to the next hole. Same goes for par 4s (max 8 strokes) and par 5s (max 10 strokes).
Yes. Players have a maximum of 3 minutes to locate a lost ball. When a player suffers a lost ball, after looking for 3 minutes, the group must determine where the ball was last seen. The ball will be dropped as close as possible to where it was last seen or estimated to have landed and stopped but not in a bunker or penalty area.
The Veteran Golfers Association will not assess stroke and distance penalties for out-of-bounds and lost balls. In the case of a lost ball, out of bounds or relief from a penalty area, the player will drop according to the rules of golf and take a 1 stroke penalty. Lost ball and out of bounds will be resolved in the same manner with these 4 steps.
Step 1: You’ve hit your ball out of bounds or have lost your ball.
Step 2: You and one fellow playing partner in your group determine the line of flight where your ball went out of bounds or the line of flight your ball crossed when it was lost.
Step 3: Find the nearest place to play golf from inside the out of bounds or from the nearest line your ball was lost (2 club lengths) no closer to the hole.
Step 4: Drop your ball from mid-thigh or just above the knee, no closer to the hole. Continue to play under the pace of play rules.
There are four Regions: North, South, Central, and West. Each region has one VGA Regional Director and several VGA State & Assistant State Directors, who report directly to their Regional Director.
20 players from each VGA Regional Championship and 4 players from the Senior VGA Championship. All winners will be by gross score except for those noted below by (Net).
VGA Regional Championships
Male Veteran Flight
Vet A: 2
Vet B: 2
Vet C: 2
Vet D: 2 (Net)
Wounded Veteran Flight (Purple Heart Recipients)
WV A: 1 (Net)
WV B: 1 (Net)
WV C: 1 (Net)
WV D: 1 (Net)
Female Veteran Flight
F Vet A: 1
F Vet B: 1
F Vet C: 1
F Vet D: 1 (Net)
Family Flight
Family A: 1
Family B: 1
Family C: 1
Family Female: 1 (Net)
Senior VGA Championship
Senior A Champion: 1
Senior B Champion: 1
Senior C Champion: 1
Senior Female Champion: 1
Typically, players receive a VGA Medal for winning a local or regional event. Players do not receive cash prizes or equivalents by participating in VGA events.
To qualify for the VGA Armed Forces Cup players must first qualify for their Regional Armed Forces Cup. To quality for your Regional Armed Forces Cup players must participate and earn points in their local VGA tour events. The top 8 points earners per branch, per region, will be invited to participate in their Regional Armed Forces Cup. The top 2 points earners, per branch, per region will be invited to the VGA National Armed Forces Cup in Pinehurst, NC each Memorial Day. Every participant in the Armed Forces Cup must be a veteran.
No. Each VGA member enrolls as an individual. Family members are always welcome, and get an equal opportunity to compete in our events through our Family Division.
If you are interested in hosting a VGA Tour event in your area, please contact one of your Regional Directors:
Kevin Frey, North Region Director – kevin.frey@vgagolf.org
Danny Foster, South Region Director – danny.foster@vgagolf.org
Robert Powell, Central Region Director – robert.powell@vgagolf.org
Kerry Stauffer, West Region Director – kerry.stauffer@vgagolf.org