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New GHIN.com and eGolfer

The newly redesigned GHIN.com Web site, with its much anticipated eGolfer functionality, is officially up and running.

eGolfer is an online software program designed to assist golfers in organizing their golf network. This software program is available to all golfers using the GHIN service, regardless if they belong to a club that uses eClubhouse or not.

The new GHIN.com will not only look different -- it will perform differently in some areas too. In addition, we will continue to enhance and add new features in stages once we launch the site.

We are discontinuing the use of pop-up windows throughout the site when accessing features such as Handicap Lookup, E-mail Update and Ratings Lookup. The features have now been incorporated into the site design. The “Post” feature, previously called “Post Online”, will follow suit shortly after.
We added a new “GHIN Solutions” section, which provides descriptions of our services and software. We believe this new section will be of great benefit in attracting new member clubs to the association.
The GHIN Associations section was equipped with an alphabetical “jump-list”.
We reorganized the “FAQ’s” section -- grouping questions and answers into categories so they are more easily searchable. We are looking into other options for this section to make the feature even more useful.
We added a “Contact” page to more effectively handle inquiries. Currently, there is a note to review the FAQ’s first, and if a solution can’t be found the user is directed to the GHIN Association page. We are researching more dynamic solutions and will update you on our progress at a later date.
In the near future, we will be adding USGA corporate partners to the GHIN.com Web site. For the launch, we have added the “Rule of the Day” and “U.S. Open” ads as place holders until we received content from our partners.

The new golfer interface called “eGolfer” leverages eClubhouse™ functionality and delivers it directly to the individual member without the requirement that the golfer belong to a club that is utilizing an eClubhouse Web site. Using this interface, GHIN association members will have the opportunity to create a personalized dashboard and to utilize many of the same tools available in the myGame section of eClubhouse. This functionality is available to all GHIN association members, but requires a golfer to register for a user name and password.

eGolfer is accessible via the GHIN.com Web site via the eGolfer form located at the top of the right-hand column. From here, the golfer can subscribe to use the service, sign-in or simply find out more information about the service. Associations will have access to the form so that their members can access eGolfer via the association Web site.

While the addition of the eGolfer portal is a significant enhancement, association members are not required to utilize this interface. All existing handicap lookup and posting tools remain accessible both from GHIN.com and from association Web sites.

The eGolfer functionality includes:

eClubhouse News that is populated from eClubhouse Web sites in the local area based on the Zip Code. If the golfer is a member of a club using eClubhouse, the club's news will be displayed as well. Additionally, this new widget will display content from golf associations; GHIN or the USGA®; and from eClubhouse club sites within the golfers selected area that have public information to publish.
Events/MyEvents is a widget that displays events from the golfer’s association; club and clubs within the golfers selected area that have open events. Once a golfer signs up for an event, it becomes listed under MyEvents.
MyStats is a robust round tracking and graphing capability that allows golfers to post hole-by-hole metrics and see trends represented in selected graphs for specified periods of play.
My Club Photo Album shows photo albums from the golfer’s club eClubhouse site.
USGA Handicap Index® shows the golfer’s current Index with its effective date.
My Courses shows courses the golfer has played recently and allows selection, display and editing capabilities.
My Weather is a widget that shows current temperature as well as the Hi and Low temperatures for the golfer’s selected area. This widget also acts as a hyperlink to a pop-up Web page of more detailed weather content.
News Clippings is a golf RSS News feed of national stories of interest to golfers.
Search for other Players allows the golfer to search for other golfers to arrange a round of golf, based on their availability, ability and distance from the selected area or within eClubhouse.

Technical Considerations

Radius & Search Zip Code:

The golfer can control what displays in the “Upcoming Events”, “Club News” and “Find Other Players” modules by changing the Radius (found directly above the USGA Handicap Index box in the secondary navigation bar). Using the golfer’s home Zip Code as the center point, eGolfer will display news and events and available players within the chosen radius on the dashboard. By default, the Radius is one mile. The starting zip code can be changed by clicking on the Zip Code next to the “Search Zip Code” label. This feature is useful if the golfer is traveling and would like to display content from the area being visited.

Club News & Events:

The Club News and Upcoming/My Events modules display PUBLIC new articles and events from local associations and clubs that are using eClubhouse within the specified mile radius. Each article & event will include the name of the club that posted the item. If you currently do not have association news posted on your eClubhouse association administration site, now may be a good time to do so. This would also be a good time to remind your clubs that if they have content posted on their Web site that should be considered Private”, they should mark it as such. Otherwise, it will be displayed within the eGolfer/eClubhouse myGame dashboards.

FAQ’s: Questions posed after the soft-launch of the new myGame page within eClubhouse prompted us to add some additional items to the FAQ’s section. This section is not only for GHIN use, but is available for association use as well.

Corporate Sponsors: Similar to other areas of GHIN.com, Corporate Partners will be placed on the eGolfer dashboard, but will not be displayed in the new myGame section within eClubhouse.

View: The eGolfer dashboard offers the golfer the option of switching between a Scores and Statistics view.
- The “Statistics” view contains a drop-down box from which the golfer can choose from a variety of graphical displays. If the golfer has not posted any Hole-by-Hole scores, the resulting message will be “You have not posted any Hole-by-Hole (HBH) rounds. To use the reporting feature, rounds should be added in HBH format.” At the bottom of the statistics section there is a button called “Display/Update Rounds” which allows the user to maintain rounds posted.

The “Scores” view contains a drop-down box from which the golfer can choose to view “Current Scores” or a specific club which will display “Handicap Scores”. If the golfer is a multi-member, all clubs will be listed in the drop-down.

We hope you are as excited about the new look of GHIN.com, as well as the new eGolfer functionality as we are! This step allows associations using GHIN to offer a new way for their members to be part of the GHIN community, share information and keep track of their game!