The (VGA) Veterans Golf Association (Lacassem's Journey & Others)

[Shank Aaron]

17 hours ago, Erin B said:

@cksurfdude @Shank Aaron @GolfSpy_SHARK you guys should come out west sometime! Check out SD who hosts a multi-day event with Wyoming in August. You’d love Golf Club at Devil’s Tower. The SD courses are awesome too, Elk Horn is crazy!

That is a goal of mine to play a handful of events out west, a little west coast swing, if you will. Probably wont be able to do anything like that until the kiddos are a little older. 3 down, 3 more to go!

 

16 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

@Shank Aaron - Engineers is outside Roslyn NY in Nassau County and not too far from me. Is that May 8th? Do you know if they allow spectators?

Anyway course has some crazy elevation changes and obstacles .. def do your homework on it in advance!

 

Yeah, I have Arccos and the preview is crazy. It seems like a 5 knot wind can dramatically change the way the course plays. kinda like Bethpage Red in a way. I love the elevation changes. We played Centennial for the State Championship last year, and that gave me a sense of what it was like to play golf up and down the side of a mountain. Unfortunately, no spectators, but forecaddies are required if you can fake your way into the caddy shack, lol. 

[Fred Mitchell]

VGA email today. Srixon discount of 30%

 

[Shank Aaron]

58 minutes ago, Fred Mitchell said:

VGA email today. Srixon discount of 30%

 

That's the usual. If you log into your member portal and look at the top menu bar, there's a tab labeled "Benefits". Click on that and you can generate as many Srixon codes as your bank account will let you. 

[Cannon Safe]

Glad I found this thread. I've been thinking of joining vga here in Alaska. Is the vga handicap the same as the usga? If so, does the membership fee include the usga handicap? One of my goals for this season is to establish a legit handicap. I emailed the local president a few weeks ago but haven't noticed a reply yet (could have got lost in spam). Our courses are just starting to open up here,  not expecting him to be active just yet.

Edited May 1 by Cannon Safe

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

21 minutes ago, Cannon Safe said:

Glad I found this thread. I've been thinking of joining vga here in Alaska. Is the vga handicap the same as the usga? If so, does the membership fee include the usga handicap? One of my goals for this season is to establish a legit handicap. I emailed the local president a few weeks ago but haven't noticed a reply yet (could have got lost in spam). Our courses are just starting to open up here,  not expecting him to be active just yet.

Unfortunately it’s not. I don’t believe you have to have a USGA handicap to join but the handicap is not official.

you can still however play and you’ll be put into a flight after I think 3 tournaments if you don’t have a handicap.

[OJ_Mango]

Glad to see some fellow Spys in the VGA. I will have to keep any eye out for some recommended events in different states. For those wanting to visit some solid GA/SC courses. Take a look at when GA/SC are around the Augusta area. We typically have a 2-3 rounds scheduled for a single weekend. ALOT better greens fees than during the Tournament week.

[Cannon Safe]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

Unfortunately it’s not. I don’t believe you have to have a USGA handicap to join but the handicap is not official.

you can still however play and you’ll be put into a flight after I think 3 tournaments if you don’t have a handicap.

Thanks for the info. Not a deal breaker

[Mike3531]

On 2/8/2023 at 10:51 AM, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

Hey all!

I have been contemplating doing this for years. The VGA for those that have not heard of it is the Veterans Golf Association. They run a ton of tournaments nation wide and have different regions. There are regional leaders and some pretty big competitive championship tournaments all around the world. In 2021 they hosted one in Scotland.

I finally signed up today. There are several tournaments I hope to play in. Even if I play in one I will be super pumped. I am ecstatic to get into some truly competitive golf.

This thread will host my thoughts leading up to tournaments, what I was thinking during the round and how the round went. Maybe get some pointers from the folks on here. Also to provide a space for other VGA members to get involved in one spot.

I am not sure what to expect or how everything works so maybe I can provide some insight as I go along for others that maybe sign up and get into some tournaments!

https://www.vgagolf.org/app/

https://www.vgagolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/VGA_2022_Tour_Players_Manaual_20211102v3.pdf

I think my first tournament will be either April 28th or April 30th (28th is in Connecticut and 30th is in Massachusetts)

So what are the benefits of paying $76 a year for the membership? And roughly on average how much do the tournaments cost to enter? Thank you for the help because I have been looking at joining.

[CharlieGrisham]

Primary benefit is access to the dashboard, events, establishing VGA handicap (not GHIN) and supporting the overall organization (they run national/regional events for those so inclined/talented).

$20 registration fee/event goes to VGA to support the state chapter, etc.

Then, usually some "discounted" green fee.  I've seen it anywhere from rack rate (with included range balls) to >50% off some amazing courses like Old Waverly and Mossy Oak.  I've played muni courses all the way up to resorts with the VGA.  I like it for the light competition (it ain't the US Open) and camaraderie and not trying to arrange a game by myself.  I moved away from my normal golf buddies to a golf desert and it's nice to be able to find a group within a reasonable drive that I can relate to and enjoy my time with...while I track my progress in my game.

[Shank Aaron]

On 5/1/2024 at 6:47 PM, Cannon Safe said:

Glad I found this thread. I've been thinking of joining vga here in Alaska. Is the vga handicap the same as the usga? If so, does the membership fee include the usga handicap? One of my goals for this season is to establish a legit handicap. I emailed the local president a few weeks ago but haven't noticed a reply yet (could have got lost in spam). Our courses are just starting to open up here,  not expecting him to be active just yet.

Naw, your VGA handicap wont do you any good outside of a VGA event, but it's definitely a number you wat to get as soon as you can for flighting. State Championships are right around the corner for just about everyone, and you have to have an index to be eligible. 

 

1 hour ago, Mike3531 said:

So what are the benefits of paying $76 a year for the membership? And roughly on average how much do the tournaments cost to enter? Thank you for the help because I have been looking at joining.

The main benefits (to me, anyways. YMMV) is the Member's website. The dashboard has all of the information I want to see in one spot. I can search for and enter events in any state there's a chapter, see my rankings on a State/Regional/National/AFC level (As well as where others rank that I'm trying to beat), and now they've updated the page so we can generate a 30% off code for all things Srixon whenever we want. No more emailing a request for one. So I guess that's my way of rationalizing the annual membership fee, even though I realize the money does go to other areas. 

 

As far as the greens fees, that's going to vary based on your location. Taking that a step further, it'll also depend on which course you're playing in your area. Champions Retreat will cost you a few more clams to play than say.....Aiken GC, for example. Comparatively, it's a lot cheaper playing in most places down South than it is up here in NY/NJ. 

[Mike3531]

Appreciate the information!