The inception of GHIN began in the spring of 1980 when a Regional Golf Association wished to change its handicap service vendor. In an effort to provide a quality service to maintain handicaps, the USGA® was approached and asked to help in providing this type of service. GHIN was organized and developed by the spring of 1981 and provided handicap computation services initially for the Metropolitan Golf Association, in New York.

GHIN has now become the world's largest handicap computation service. GHIN is provided through 71 State, Regional or National Golf Associations to over 12,000 clubs and approximately 2.3 million golfers. GHIN is maintained by the United States Golf Association® and the staff is composed of USGA employees.

Any USGA Handicap Index® issued through a Golf Association by a golf club is designed to allow golfers of differing abilities to compete on an equitable basis and thereby increasing the enjoyment they derive from a round of golf. A Handicap Index is revised throughout the golf season and is based on golfers' scores, as well as the relative difficulty of the courses on which their rounds are played.