The English Golf Union is the governing body for men's and boys' amateur golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It represents over 1,900 golf clubs with over 740,000 members and is affiliated to The R&A, which is the global governing body of golf outside the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

The English Golf Union was founded in 1924 and is based at the National Golf Centre in Woodhall Spa

Woodhall Spa

Woodhall Spa is a civil parish and village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England within a wooded area on the Southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, about south-west of Horncastle and about east-south-east of Lincoln...

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

. It is a non-profit making organisation and is funded mainly by affiliation fees paid by golfers as part of their club membership fee. It organises individual and team championships for all age groups from boys to seniors, including the flagship English Amateur Championship

English Amateur

The English Amateur is the national amateur match play golf championship of England. It has been played annually since 1925 and is organized by the English Golf Union....

 (a match play

Match play

Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; this is as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes...

 event), and the English Open Amateur Stroke Play

Stroke play

Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf. It involves counting the total number of strokes taken on each hole during a given round, or series of rounds...

 Championship (the Brabazon Trophy

Brabazon Trophy

The English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is the national amateur stroke play golf championship in England . It has been played annually since 1947 and is organized by the English Golf Union.The format is 72 hole stroke play contested over 4 days...

). (These events are less prestigious than the equivalent events run on an all-Britain & Ireland basis by The R&A.) It also runs the handicapping

Handicapping

Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated...

 system for men's golf in England and works to increase the interest and participation in golf among adults and juniors.

See also

• English Ladies Golf Association
• Ladies Golf Union
• The Professional Golfers' Association