Requesting a Golf Cart

Procedures For Requesting A Golf Cart In USGA Championships And Qualifying Rounds

The USGA will evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, any request to use a golf cart in USGA Championships or qualifying rounds due to a claimed permanent disability. In order for the USGA to evaluate such requests, it is necessary to submit medical documentation setting forth the exact nature of the permanent disability and how that disability prevents such person from walking during a stipulated round. In addition, players will have to submit information sufficient to enable the USGA to determine that providing a cart would not provide a player with an advantage over other players. Download via Adobe Acrobat Reader a copy of the USGA's cart request form entitled Information to be Supplied by Anyone Seeking to Use a Cart in a USGA Championship or Qualifying Round based on a Permanent Disability, in which each person seeking to use a golf cart due to a permanent disability as defined under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) must complete and submit to the USGA.

Requests for golf carts will not be accepted directly from caddies under any circumstances. Only a player may submit a request for a golf cart. The player must submit the golf cart request for each caddie and for each and every USGA Championship where the player intends to compete (whether submitting for the player or on behalf of the caddie). The only exception to the above is that a parent/guardian must submit the golf cart request on behalf of the minor player or caddie for the minor player. In each instance the information form must be completed and submitted together with the required medical documentation as specified in the form and must be received by the USGA within five days of submitting the online entry application. Phone submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. Requests without the fully completed information form and required medical documentation will be considered insufficient for review and consideration. In the event of a change in your medical condition or your caddie's, which occurs subsequent to submission of the entry application, written submission of all documentation must be received by the USGA no later than 7 days before the qualifier or championship proper as applicable. Requests by a player due to a change in the player’s caddie must be addressed no later than seven (7) days in advance of the Championship and/or Qualifier, and must be in accordance with the above referenced requirements relating to the submission of information for evaluation. On-site requests at the beginning of or during a Championship will not be accommodated. Requests submitted to anyone other than the USGA’s Chief Legal Officer will not be evaluated. All information submitted in connection with the golf cart request should be sent by overnight courier to the attention of the Chief Legal Officer, USGA, 77 Liberty Corner Road, Far Hills, New Jersey 07931 or via facsimile to the attention of the USGA’s Chief Legal Officer on a secure facsimile line at (908) 470-1434 in order to be received by the USGA within the required time frame for evaluation.

Important Note: If you are a player who has received a waiver and signed a Stipulation during a prior Championship season, you must still submit your request (as outlined above) for a cart for the current Championship season. You must also submit your request (without the information form) in accordance with the above process for each Championship you intend to play in during any given Championship season to ensure that a cart will be available for your use. If you are a player who has received a waiver and signed a Stipulation governing use of a cart as a player, but you also intend to be a caddie for a player in another Championship, the request for a waiver for you as a caddie must be submitted by the player you intend to caddie for and another Stipulation pertaining to caddies must be executed by you. Caddies will not be permitted to use a cart at any Championship, even with the executed Stipulation, if the player has not submitted the request in accordance with the process outlined above in advance of the Championship. In the USGA senior championships where carts are provided to all players, a caddie must walk the course unless a request for a waiver for the caddie has been submitted by the player and the caddie has executed a new Stipulation governing use of the golf cart for the specific senior championship and in each such case, the caddie must drive the golf cart and the player may not ride in the same cart as the caddie.

Requests due to “temporary” injuries or impairments that do not qualify as a permanent “disability” under the ADA will not be granted. For your information, a permanent disability that would be protected by the ADA is “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual” 42 U.S.C.S. §12102 (2001), and for these purposes, would be a substantial limitation on the ability to walk the golf course.