Guide

Georgia High School Golf: Season, Format and Rules

Georgia high school golf is a spring sport run by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA). Teams play under the USGA Rules of Golf with GHSA’s own additions, and every hole is capped at 10 strokes. Rules last checked against the GHSA 2026-27 golf rules on November 14, 2026.

At a glance	2026-27
Governing body	Georgia High School Association (GHSA)
Season	Spring. First match February 8, 2027; state championship May 17–18, 2027
Regular-season limit	12 playing dates; a 9-hole match counts as half
Maximum score	10 strokes per hole, in every competition
Boys postseason team	Up to 6 players, best 4 scores count
Girls postseason team	5A–7A: up to 5 players, best 3 count. A–4A and Private: up to 4, best 2 count
Carts and caddies	Push and pull carts allowed; motorized carts and caddies are not
State tournament	36 holes

The season

Boys and girls both play in the spring. Here are the key 2027 dates from the GHSA golf page:

Date	What happens
January 25, 2027	Earliest date for practice
February 8, 2027	Earliest date for a match
April 15, 2027	Postseason roster deadline: up to 10 golfers, entered in GHSA’s MIS system and iWanamaker (General Information, item C)
Late April to early May 2027	Area tournaments
May 3–4, 2027	Sectionals (5A–7A only)
May 17–18, 2027	State championship

A golfer left off the April 15 roster can’t play in the postseason, and entering an ineligible golfer can get the team disqualified (General Information, item C).

Match format and team scoring

GHSA limits how much teams play during the regular season, but it doesn’t set one statewide format for regular-season matches. Team size and how many scores count are spelled out only for the postseason. Ask your coach how your team’s regular-season matches are scored.

Regular-season limits

12 playing dates, not counting Area, Sectional or State. A 9-hole match counts as half a date. One Saturday doesn’t count toward the 12 (General Information, item D).
Up to 4 regular-season tournaments per gender, each with at least 4 schools. On school days, tournaments can’t start before 1 p.m., and other matches can’t start until school lets out (General Information, item E).
No scrimmages or practice rounds with other schools (General Information, item E).

Postseason teams (Area Tournaments and Classification Sectional sections)

Team	Players	Scores that count
Boys, all classes	Up to 6	Best 4
Girls, 5A–7A	Up to 5	Best 3
Girls, A–4A and Private	Up to 4	Best 2

Team ties. In both the regular season and the postseason, tied teams play sudden-death holes. For boys, all six players go out, grouped by rank (1 and 2, 3 and 4, then the last two), and the best four scores count on each hole. Girls’ playoffs work the same way with their own team sizes. Individual ties at Area and State are also settled by sudden death (General Information, item G).

Coaching. Up to two coaches may advise players anywhere except on the greens, as long as it doesn’t hold up play. Advice from anyone else, parents included, isn’t allowed. Penalties go from a warning, to two strokes, to disqualification (General Information, item F).

Rangefinders and phones. Rangefinders are allowed, but anyone in the group who asks gets the yardage too. GPS devices and phone or watch apps may be used for distance and scoring only. AirPods are banned (General Information, item B).

Scorekeeping and maximum score

Maximum score: 10 per hole. GHSA uses it in every competition, regular season and postseason (General Information, item I). The rules don’t say whether a player picks up at 10 or finishes the hole; ask the host coach.

Posting results. Schools must use iWanamaker, which GHSA calls “the GHSA golf app,” during the regular season. Area, Sectional and State results are verified in both iWanamaker and GHSA’s MIS system (General Information, item C).

Signing the card. GHSA’s most recent postseason rules sheet we could find, from 2023, says hole scores must be certified by the player, the marker, or both. Turning in a card without certified hole scores costs two strokes, added to the last hole. That sheet also sets a pace of 40 seconds per shot.

Spectators. Spectator carts depend on the course. When carts are limited, only spectators with “a legitimate handicap” may rent one (General Information, item B).

For coaches. Every Georgia golf coach must complete the GHSA/GSGA online rules clinic, or the school is fined; clinic dates are posted on the GHSA website (General Information, item J).

The road to State

Area and Sectional are 18 holes, and State is 36. If weather wipes out a round at State, it becomes 18 holes (Area Tournaments, Classification Sectional and State Tournament sections). Which path a team takes depends on its classification:

Classification	Area (18 holes)	Sectional (18 holes)	State (36 holes)
5A–7A	1st and 2nd go straight to State. 3rd and 4th go to Sectional	Top 4 teams and the 2 lowest individuals not on those teams advance	Qualifiers from Area and Sectional
A–4A public	Top 3 teams advance, plus the best individual not on those teams	None	Qualifiers from Area
Private (2A–4A)	Four Areas; top 3 teams in each advance, plus the best individual not on those teams	None	Private State Tournament

Ties for the last qualifying spot are played off (Area Tournaments section). GHSA recommends courses of about 6,500 yards for boys and 5,500 for girls on a par 72 (State Tournament section).

Middle school golf in Georgia

The GHSA rules above are for high schools. We found no single statewide rulebook for Georgia middle school golf. School districts and local leagues run it, so the format can change from one county to the next.

Public schools. Many districts field middle school teams in the spring. Cartersville Middle School, for example, held 2026 tryouts on April 20. Several Forsyth County middle schools post golf coaches on their school sites.
Private schools. The Georgia Association of Private and Parochial Schools runs a middle school golf program with 21 participating schools listed for 2027.

Things that often change between middle school leagues: 9 or 18 holes, how many players count toward the team score, whether there’s a maximum score per hole (some leagues cap it at double par), and who keeps score, whether that’s players marking each other’s cards or parents walking with each group. Before the first match, ask your coach for the league’s rules sheet.

Keeping score at a match?

If you’re the one holding the card, GolfJot makes it one tap per swing. It totals every player, works without cell signal, and shows the coach every group’s score as it happens. The first three matches are free. Try GolfJot

Spot something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.

Sources

All checked November 14, 2026.