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United States Golf Association General Privacy Policy

The United States Golf Association (the “USGA” or “we” or “us” or “our”) recognizes the importance our members, donors, visitors to our websites and users of our mobile applications place on the privacy of their information. We created this privacy policy statement (“Privacy Policy”) to demonstrate our firm commitment to protecting the privacy of your information as described below and to explain the privacy policies and procedures of the USGA.

This Privacy Policy describes how the USGA collects, uses, and shares information gathered from visitors to the web sites  (the “Web Sites” or the “USGA Web Sites”) and mobile applications (the “Apps”) where this Privacy Policy appears  (the Web Sites and the Apps are collectively referred to herein as the “Services”), as well as data collected offline from our members and donors.

Table of Contents

Please click on a section title below to skip to that section of this Privacy Policy.

Policy Changes

What Information Does the USGA Collect?

How Does the USGA Collect My Information?

How Does the USGA Use My Information?

Sharing with Third Parties

Third Party Advertisers

How Does The USGA Try to Protect My Information?

Community Tools and Social Media

Your Choices

Links to Other Web Sites

Children

United States Only

Change Information

Contact Us

Policy Changes

We suggest that you review this Privacy Policy periodically, as we may modify it from time to time. We will notify you of material changes or updates to our Privacy Policy as required by law.

What Information Does the USGA Collect?

The USGA collects two types of information from users of the Services: (1) non-personal information collected automatically, for example, as you interact with our Services that cannot, in itself, be used to specifically identify or contact an individual (except as described below) (“Non-Personal Information”); and (2) information that can be used to specifically identify or contact an individual (“Personal Information”).

Non-Personal Information

If you are using one of our Services, we will automatically capture certain Non-Personal Information about you and your use of the Service. For example, we automatically recognize and collect:

  • your Internet service provider and domain name;

  • usage and “clickstream” data, which includes the type of device and browsing software you are using and their settings (including language settings), your browser ID, general geographic information derived from your IP address, URL information, the address of the web site from which you linked to a Service, the pages, content or ads you see or click on during your visit and when and for how long you do so, items you download, any search terms you have entered on the Services or a referral site, and the time stamps of your visits to the Services;

  • App data, including counts of the screens and features of the App that are used, the countries from which the App is used, time stamps of uses, device language settings, and the types of devices, operating systems, carriers, IP addresses and wireless connections our users are using to access the App;

  • unique numerical identifiers, including mobile device identification numbers;

  • information about your interactions with our email messages;

  • geolocation information, including precise information about the location of your mobile device, to the extent that such information is provided by your device.

Personal Information

When you use any of the Services, you may be asked to provide or choose to provide Personal Information, or we may otherwise collect Personal Information, which may include:

  • your Internet Protocol (IP) Address;

  • contact information, such as your name, physical address (including zip code), e-mail address, telephone and/or fax number, USGA membership identification number.

  • password or other login credentials (selected by you) to create and access your accounts on the Services;

  • credit card information (if you make a purchase or donation through the Services);

  • health information (if you submit a request through the Services to use a golf cart at a USGA championship);

  • golf background, such as whether you are an amateur or a professional, the name and address of your golf club, and your USGA Handicap Index;

  • information you submit when you contact us or post on the Services; and

  • demographic information, such as your age and gender.

The above are only examples of the types of Personal Information we may collect. The actual types of Personal Information collected depend on the specific product or service you request, the types of transactions you conduct on the Services, and the various activities in which you participate. 

How Does the USGA Collect My Information?

The USGA uses passive tracking tools to automatically collect Information, such as browser cookies, Web beacons, pixels or similar technologies. We collect information about users over time when you use the Services or view our emails. We may also have third parties collect information this way, such as ad networks, web analytics companies, and social networking platforms. To learn more about our use of cookies and other tracking tools, and your choices, please click here.

We may collect information from you when you purchase goods and services, make a donation to the USGA Foundation, create an account, or contact us through the Services, or submit an entry application to play in a championship or submit other forms or information through the Services.

We may also receive information about you from third parties.  For example, our business partners, service providers, and social media platforms may provide us with information about you.

We combine information.  Information obtained through the Services (including both Personal Information and Non-Personal Information) may be combined and used in conjunction with information obtained through sources other than the Services or at different times, including both offline and online sources and from third parties. 

How Does the USGA Use My Information?

The USGA uses your information to:

  • understand your needs and interests and to personalize your experience on the Services;

  • provide you with better products and services and to improve our Services;

  • deliver the products, services, or information you request (for example, we may use your information for processing and evaluating your entry application, for processing your membership application, for processing transactions on certain of our Services, for processing your registration on certain of our Services, and for contacting you with regard to your membership, registration, transactions and other activities or accounts on our Services);

  • manage championships;

  • process donations made through the Services;

  • communicate with you or update you about your account, our relationship, or with regard to this Privacy Policy or the USGA Terms of Use;

  • send you newsletters and marketing information, such as updates and notices about USGA (or select third parties) products, services, and benefits we think you would be interested in;

  • serve you tailored ads on our Services and elsewhere based on your interests and history with us. To learn about your choices with regard to interest-based advertising and marketing communications, please see the

     

    Choices

     

    section below;

  • contact you for market research;

  • send push notifications and other information through our Apps; and

  • for security purposes (for example, we may use your information to protect the USGA, our users, employees, sponsors and business partners, donors, and players) and to protect our Services.  

We may use the information we collect through the Services as otherwise permitted by law or as we may notify you from time to time.

Sharing with Third Parties

The USGA may share your information with third parties in certain circumstances. For example, we will share your information:

  • with service providers, consultants, and vendors who perform services requested by us on our behalf;

  • if we have to in order to comply with legal requirements, such as in response to court orders or subpoenas, or as part of a government or administrative agency investigation;

  • with our affiliates;

  • with third-party auditors;

  • to permit us to investigate suspected fraud, harassment, or other violations of any law, rule, or regulation, the rules or policies of our Services, or the rights of third parties, or to investigate any suspected conduct which the USGA deems improper;

  • when we have reason to believe that someone is causing injury to or interference with our rights or property, other users of the Services, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities;

  • to an acquirer or successor entity in the event we, or a substantial portion of our assets, undergo a business restructuring, transfer of ownership, or similar transaction; and

  • as otherwise permitted by this Privacy Policy or as expressly permitted by you from time to time.  

Except as provided above, the USGA does not share your Personal Information with any third party without your opt-in permission. However, we may share Non-Personal Information with third parties for their marketing and other purposes, with or without your consent.

We may also disclose Non-Personal Information regarding our users and user behavior as a measure of interest in, and use of, our Services to third parties, including, for example, aggregate data, such as overall patterns or demographic reports that do not describe or identify any individual user.

Third Party Advertisers

Please note that at times, some of the advertisers on the Services and their and our ad service providers (including affiliate network providers and third party ad servers) may set cookies or use related technologies or web beacons when you view and/or click their advertising banners, links or other ads. Information from cookies, tracking pixels, clear GIFs and other tracking technologies placed through third party ads and links may be collected directly by those advertisers and ad service providers and used to cause relevant ads to be displayed to you. For example, these companies may collect and use information about you and your visits to the Services and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. These advertisements may appear on the Services and on other Web sites. The advertiser’s privacy policy and/or that of its service provider will govern the use of this information, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such companies. We encourage you to read these businesses’ privacy policies to learn about how they treat your information.

How Does the USGA Try to Protect My Information?

The security of your information is important to us. However, while we strive to protect your information, due to the inherent open nature of the Internet we cannot guarantee that communications between you and any Services, or information stored on any Web Site or servers, will be free from unauthorized access by third parties such as hackers. Your use of the Services demonstrates your assumption of this risk.

You should be aware that any information and content, including Personal Information you post to message boards, community tools, or other publicly accessible forums, may be viewed and used by anyone with access to such forums. By using these services, you assume the risk that the Personal Information provided by you may be viewed and used by third parties.

Community Tools and Social Media

If you desire to have access to certain restricted sections of our Services, you will be required to become a registered user and submit certain Personal Information requested during the registration process and described above.  Once registered, you may provide additional information on your profile to better identify yourself and find new friends and opportunities on the Services that may be available. Providing additional information beyond what is required at registration is entirely optional and provided at your own risk.

Depending on your profile settings (if applicable), the USGA may display your profile to other registered users to enable you to connect with them on the USGA’s network, if such a feature is available. You may be able to access and control the information included in your profile and decide whether you want your profile made visible to other registered users and perhaps the general public. Our default privacy setting with respect to your profile is set to make your profile “publicly” available, unless and until you choose otherwise, which you can do by opting out in the account preferences area of your Web Site account (if applicable), or by contacting us using the information set forth in the Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy below.

To deactivate your user account, you may email membership@usga.org, call us at (908) 234-2300, or write us at the United States Golf Association, 77 Liberty Corner Road, Liberty Corner, New Jersey 07938, or follow the procedures in the Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy. We will remove your profile but may retain any record of your information that is necessary to comply with applicable federal, state, or local law. By registering for a user account, you acknowledge and consent that, even after removal of your profile and Personal Information from our Web Sites, your information may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of individuals who have copied or stored such information or content. 

Your Choices

You can control cookies and tracking tools.  To learn how the USGA uses cookies and other tracking tools, and to read our Do Not Track practices, please click here. If you turn off cookies, certain features and functions of the Services may not be available to you.

You can opt out of receiving promotional emails from the USGA. To do so, email us at membership@usga.org or follow the instructions in any promotional message you get from us.  Please understand that if you opt out of receiving promotional correspondence from us, we may still contact you in connection with your relationship, activities, transactions and communications with us.

If you wish to stop receiving push notifications through the App, you may change the settings for the App and/or your device.

The precise geographic location of your device may be transmitted to our servers in real time any time that the App is running (even if you are not actively using the App or it is minimized on your device). You may stop allowing us to have access to your device’s location information by accessing the App’s location settings on your device and setting your device not to share its location with us. 

Please note that the USGA is not responsible for removing your information from third party lists or databases. You can restrict the use of certain of your information by certain direct mail companies by contacting: Mail Preference Service c/o Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, New York 11735-9008.

Links to Other Web Sites

Any of the Services may contain links, banners, or advertisements to other web sites.  When you click on such links, banners, or advertisements, the privacy policies of the web sites to which you are linked and/or their service provider (as applicable) will govern the use of your information collected on such sites.  The USGA does not have access to or control over any technologies or practices that may be used by third parties.

This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by the USGA via its Services.  We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites.  We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of each and every web site visited after leaving any of our Web Sites through such a link, banner or advertisement, in order to learn how such third parties may treat your information.

Children

The Services are not intended for children under the age of 13 years. The USGA does not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register for use of any of the Services. In the event the USGA learns that we have collected Personal Information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete such information as quickly as possible.

United States Only

The Services are intended only for users in the United States of America.  By using the Services, you agree and acknowledge that the Services are hosted in the United States and that information collected through the Services (including Personal Information) will be stored and processed in the United States.  By using the Services, you consent to such transfer and the application of the laws of the United States, which may not be as protective or comprehensive as those that exist in your home jurisdiction. Your information may also be transferred to entities other than the USGA and its affiliates, which entities may be located in countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including the United States. Each of these countries has different privacy laws that afford varying levels of protection for your information, and such laws may not be as protective or comprehensive as those that exist in your home jurisdiction.

Change Information

To the extent available, you can access, view and change your preferences, profile, and other information by visiting www.usga.org or emailing membership@usga.org, calling us at (908) 234-2300, or writing us at the United States Golf Association, 77 Liberty Corner Road, Liberty Corner, New Jersey 07938. You may also inform us of changes by following the procedures described in the Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy, and the USGA will take reasonable steps to correct any information about you that is incorrect.

Contact Us

The USGA welcomes your questions and comments about privacy. Please feel free to contact us by sending an email to privacy@usga.org, calling us at (908) 234-2300, or writing us at the United States Golf Association, 77 Liberty Corner Road, Liberty Corner, New Jersey 07938.