Canadian golfers were busy racking up numbers this summer — and not just on their scorecards.

July 2025 set a new record for scores entered into the Golf Canada Score Centre, with members logging a whopping 2,082,814 rounds for the month.

That’s a 6.6 per cent jump over the previous July high of 1,953,807 set in 2024. Compared with 2019, July score entries are up more than 44 per cent — a sign that more golfers than ever are tracking their play and keeping their Handicap Index® current.

The mid-summer surge came as golfers across the country took advantage of long daylight hours, prime course conditions and a busy stretch of club, provincial and national events. With the Golf Canada app and web platform making score entry quicker than ever, members are keeping their stats up to date from the clubhouse, the parking lot — even right on the 18th green.

July has traditionally been the biggest month for score posting in Canada, but 2025’s total pushes the benchmark to new heights. The upward trend in recent years shows no signs of slowing, with steady growth in score entries across nearly every province.

With August and September still ahead — and plenty of fairways yet to be played — there’s every chance golfers will post another banner stretch before the season wraps.

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Refer your friends to join Golf Canada membership and you could win big. Prizes include a dream golf getaway to Banff, Alta. custom-fitted golf clubs and more! 

Golf Canada is proud to announce the launch of a new membership referral program, giving Golf Canada and provincial association members the chance to win prizes for referring others to become members.

The referral program will be running until September 15, 2025, and allows members to refer as many people as possible to increase their number of entries into an exclusive prize draw. Each member will have access to a referral link that is unique to their account that can be passed along to non-members.  

When non-members join with a new membership through the unique referral link, existing members will be automatically entered into a draw to win exciting golf prizes, including the grand prize – a twosome at Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course in Banff, Alta. featuring flight and two-nights’ accommodation. Other prizes include a full set of custom-fitted Titleist golf clubs and gift cards to Golf Canada’s e-store.  

Members can access and manage their referral links through the Golf Canada App as well as on the web. Desktop users can find their referral link by logging into their account here. On the Golf Canada App, members can access their link through the MORE tab located at the bottom right of their mobile devices, as well as through the PROFILE tab located on the lefthand side of their screen. Once selected through the app and desktop, members will have the choice to copy and share the link with peers as well as access a unique QR Code that can be scanned by players they wish to refer.  

A Golf Canada Membership is a must-have for Canadian golfers, providing easy access to tools and technology to better players’ on-course experience through the Golf Canada App. The Golf Canada app is a free, all-in-one digital tool offering GPS-enabled course maps, detailed score and stat tracking features and access to official Handicap Indexes. Hole-by-hole distance measurements are also available for over 1,500 courses across Canada and compatible with mobile devices, the Apple Watch and Android watches.

Golf Canada members receive a variety of benefits through their annual subscription, including an official Golf Canada handicap index, equipment protection and exclusive stat tracking on the Golf Canada Score Centre along with a #MyGolfYear snapshot that can be shared on social. Online Rules of Golf Training and deals on hotels, car rentals and other offers as well as access to marquee events such as the RBC Canadian Open and CPKC Women’s Open are also available to Golf Canada members.  

Notably, membership dues are reinvested into Grow the Game programs to help support Canadian youth learn life skills through the game of golf.  

To view and access all the perks of being a Golf Canada member, please click here. The Golf Canada App is the number one golf app in Canada and available for download for both iOS and Android operating systems from both the App Store and Google Play at no cost. 

Is Golf Canada guilty of false advertising when they offer golfers across the country their new “free” Bronze-level membership?

We’re being facetious, of course, but there is a hidden cost as Peter Kirkpatrick, Golf Canada’s Managing Director of Brand and Marketing Services, points out.

While no money changes hands, joining the new membership initiative comes with a price. That “price,” he says, is the time it takes you to sign up and make use of the array of utilities and benefits. “Just because there may not be a payment involved in becoming a Bronze member, we realize that time and attention are valuable commodities for everyone these days. We have tried to ensure that there is enough value there for golfers to make that investment,” Kirkpatrick says. Much of that value stemmed from the input of focus groups and surveys across the country over the past three years.

“Our research gave us insight into what golfers want,” says Karen Hewson, Managing Director of Membership and Heritage Services.  “They want to track scores, they want meaningful experiences and more information about the game. They told us they would like to be part of the larger golf community so we created a no-cost membership to remove any barriers to that objective.”

At present, the free membership level offers golfers online game and score tracking (not to be confused with an official Golf Canada Handicap Factor® which is a benefit at the paid level), the opportunity to win rewards for playing and posting scores, online Rules of Golf education access, free subscriptions to online golf publications, and exclusive offers on event tickets and merchandise. Bronze members are also entered into some impressive contests when they sign up and each time they post a score. Currently, The Great Canadian East-West Contest offers a golf vacation for two to either Cabot Links/Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia or Banff Springs in Alberta.

The objective of Golf Canada’s Bronze membership category is to engage the millions of Canadian golfers who are not members today, to build that community for all golfers, and to encourage them to support the game. To welcome those golfers, the Bronze membership comes at no charge and offers a lot of value. Call it the “starter” membership for those who want to test the golf community experience.

For those who want all the trappings of a full-fledged Golf Canada membership, there is the Gold level. For $49.95, Gold-level members receive an official Golf Canada Handicap Factor, multiple rewards opportunities, the Golf Canada Equipment Replacement Guarantee, golf club identification labels and access to the Golf Canada Equipment Identification and Retrieval System, discounts on event tickets and merchandise, online Rules of Golf education access, as well as lifetime scoring history and even more digital utilities.

Member dues support myriad national and provincial programs such as Long-Term Player Development, multiple junior initiatives such as Golf in Schools, Team Canada, Rules of Golf, national amateur championships, handicapping and course rating, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, the Canadian Golf Foundation, and more.

No matter which level you choose, a Golf Canada membership definitely is one of golf’s best “value propositions” and will pay immediate dividends not just for you, but for the game itself.

And that’s truth in advertising.

(To become a member of Golf Canada and the Canadian golf community, visit www.golfcanada.ca and click on “Join Now.”)

Just about everything about golf has evolved over the years—the equipment we use, the apparel we wear, even the Rules we play by. So, inevitably, have we— the golfers who play the game.

Originally, golf clubs were founded—and funded—by their members. When the clubs decided it would be beneficial to have someone organize and oversee things like interclub competitions, administration of the Rules, and so on, golf associations came to be. In turn, the clubs supported those associations financially.

In modern times, that model is evolving yet again. While golf continues to be the most popular sport in Canada, a large majority of golfers now choose, for any number of reasons, not to join a traditional golf club. They love the game, but elect to play a variety of our country’s awesome selection of courses, rather than belong to just one.

By no means does this indicate that these golfers are any less enthusiastic or supportive of the game than their counterparts who choose to join a club. Far from it. We are all part of the same incredible sport and care about its future. Golf Canada realizes this and has acknowledged this evolution with a new membership model, one which welcomes the millions of players from coast to coast to be part of “golf in Canada.”

“Seventy or 80 years ago, about 90 per cent of golfers in Canada belonged to a club,” says Karen Hewson, Golf Canada’s Managing Director, Membership and Heritage Services. “In recent years, that has totally reversed. Now, fewer than 10 per cent are club members.”

One result of this reversal is that only a small percentage of golfers feel connected to the game in a larger sense; part of golf’s fabric, so to speak. They’re not part of that traditional club-based linkage, a situation that Golf Canada is reacting to in a positive way.

“Everyone who loves golf should feel that they are an important part of its traditions and of its future,” says Hewson. “Things like handicaps and course rating and Rules are, and will always be, integral to the game and Golf Canada’s role in it. But we are very aware that a very real priority is to build relationships with, communicating with, and educating everyone who plays the game, regardless of where they choose to play.”

After extensive surveys and focus groups conducted with golfers and facilities across Canada, a new structure will be rolled out across Canada over the next three years. The three-tiered program is so innovative that it is being viewed with great interest by other national golf associations who are considering revamping their own membership methods.

“The primary objective is to be more inclusive, to welcome all golfers to be a part of golf in Canada,” says Hewson. “In fact, the basic Bronze membership is free.”

The secondary objective is to enhance golfers’ playing experience with new tools on mobile devices, current golf information, a rewards program, online score posting and access to instructional tips, along with (at the Silver and Gold levels) upgraded benefits including an identification system that minimizes the impact of lost, stolen or damaged equipment and a program that offsets the cost of replacing lost, stolen or damaged equipment (or golf carts).

For no cost whatsoever, Bronze members receive discounts on tickets, merchandise and more; frequent rewards and prizes just for playing golf; score posting; the ability to track a season-long “ringer” scorecard at one course; basic statistics tracking, health information; dynamic course search; Global Golf Post and E-Golf News.

A Silver membership (available in 2016) costs $24.95 and offers all the Bronze benefits plus better discounts on tickets, merchandise and more; better rewards and prizes just for playing golf; more online/mobile tools for tracking your game; Golf Canada magazine home delivery; golf club labels and access to the Golf Canada Equipment Identification and Retrieval System; and online access to a PGA of Canada professional to assist and direct you on how to get the most out of your game.

For $49.95, a Gold membership gets you all of the above plus the best discounts on tickets, merchandise and more; the best rewards and prizes just for playing golf; access to provincial, national and other sanctioned events; official handicap factor; equipment guarantee (reimbursement for replacement of lost, stolen or damaged equipment); enhanced game tracking; internationally recognized membership card; and cart damage coverage.

Let’s say, for example, you are a member at an 18-hole semi-private golf club. The new membership model offers your club a couple of options.

The club may choose to pay its facility fee (another new concept) and then turn over the membership aspect to Golf Canada. When you visit the Golf Canada Score Centre at www.golfcanada.ca to post a score for the first time, you will be asked which level of membership you prefer: Bronze, Silver or Gold. Silver and Gold membership fees can be charged to your credit card at that time.

Alternatively, the club pays its facility fee and purchases memberships for its members directly from Golf Canada.

In addition to the new strategy and benefits for individuals, the reworked Golf Canada initiative offers benefits for golf facilities as well.

“We want to be partners in the game with every facility, from driving ranges to public courses to private clubs,” says Hewson. “We also want to provide every golfer in Canada, and I emphasize ‘every golfer’, a more enjoyable golf experience, more choices, and a broader perspective on the game.”

If you’re a golfer, you can find out more at www.golfcanada.ca/join. If you are a golf facility operator, please contact members@golfcanada.ca.