Privacy Policy

The Metropolitan Golf Association and The Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, (the “MGA” or “MGAF” or “we” or “us” or “our”), and its affiliated organizations place a high priority on protecting your privacy. We created this privacy policy statement (this “Privacy Policy”) to explain our privacy policies and procedures. Please review this Privacy Policy carefully, for it contains important information. If you do not want us to be able to gather and use information about you, please do not use this Site or the Apps or provide offline data or information.

This Privacy Policy describes how the MGA collects, uses, and shares: (1) information gathered from visitors to mgagolf.org (the “Site” or the “MGA Website”) and mobile applications (the “Apps”) where this Privacy Policy appears (the Site and the Apps are collectively referred to herein as the “Services”), and (2) information collected offline from our members, donors and third parties.  A portion of the information that we collect and use is jointly owned by the MGA and The United States Golf Association (the “USGA”).  We regularly share information with the USGA.  You should also consult the USGA’s privacy policy, which can be found at usga.org for information regarding how the USGA may collect, use and share information about you. 

This Privacy Policy is part of our Terms of Service (the “User Agreement”), which governs your use of the Site and the Services, as defined therein. By using the Site and the Services, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy and agree to receive future revisions to our Privacy Policy through the Site. Unless otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, the defined terms used below have the same meaning set forth in our User Agreement. 

Types of Information Collected 

The MGA collects two types of information from users of the Services: (1) information that can be used to specifically identify or contact an individual (“Personal Information”) and (2) 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 (“Non-Personal Information”).
 

Personal Information: We receive and store any personal information you provide to us through the Site or give us in any other way, such as when you register an Account through the USGA or a vendor, such as Golf Genius, request information, products, or services from us through the Site, complete a survey on the Site, or communicate with us via email through the Site or an email provider. This personal information that we gather from you may include, without limitation:
 

• Contact Information (i.e., your/third party name[s], address, telephone number, email) 

• Password or other login credentials (selected by you when you register through the USGA or a vendor, such as Golf Genius) to create and access your accounts on the Services.  The MGA does not store account credentials, that data is stored and exists in third party systems 

• Professional credentials
 

• Username & password


• Age, gender, and other demographic information

• Health information (for example, if you submit a request through the Services to use a golf cart at an MGA 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 about your interests in and use of various products, programs and services

• Certain financial information, although we do not store credit  card number, that data is maintained in other systems owned and operated by third parties 

• Geo-location


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.
 

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 

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

The above are only examples of the types of Non-Personal Information we may collect. The actual types of Non-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.
 

We may use Personal Information and Non-Personal Information to enhance and customize services and features for you, to improve the Services we provide to you, and to communicate with you.
 

Registering a profile or participation in surveys or contests is completely voluntary; therefore, you have a choice whether to disclose this information. Where this information is required for participation, and you choose to participate, you hereby give consent for the collection of any information.


Automatic Information Collection. We (and, the USGA and third parties, such as service providers) may use management and analytic products and tools that we own or that are owned by a third-party to gather certain information about your use of the Site and Services. The products and tools may include cookies, beacons, JavaScript, and other technologies. From time to time, we (the USGA and third parties, such as our service providers) may also collect information such as the pages of the Site that you visit, your search keywords, your operating system version, IP address and type of browser you are using, or other such information. The information we collect enables us to run Site usage tools and create statistics about our Site. These statistics help us to better understand how our Site is being used.

Note that if you link from our Site for purposes of purchasing or using certain products or services, such as a site owned and/or operated by one of our advertisers or sponsors, you will be traveling to other sites operated by other entities with different privacy policies, and the information you provide on those sites is not governed by this Privacy Policy. 

How We Collect Information 

The MGA 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. 

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

We also may receive information about you from third parties. For example, our advertisers, sponsors, service providers, social media platforms and certain third parties we use to provide information on our members or visitors to the Site 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 We Use Information 

Marketing Purposes: We may use this information, such as your name, address, telephone number, and/or email address, to contact you and send you information about us, the USGA, our affiliates (including our charitable affiliates), and third-party goods, services, and promotions, in which we believe you may be interested. We may disclose your information to the USGA, our agents and service providers, who help us contact you for these purposes. In addition, we may disclose your information to the USGA, third parties and our affiliates for their use in contacting you about products, services, and promotions, in which we believe you might be interested. 

To Comply with Requests and Deliver Orders: We may also use and disclose to others (such as our billing service providers, our fulfillment houses and shipping companies) your information, to the extent reasonably necessary, to provide you with the information, opportunities, goods or services you request, such as if you request information about a promotion, order goods or services, or request information from us, or to process your membership application or your registration on our Services if you submit such an application or registration. For example, if you choose to receive information regarding a promotion offered by a third party, we may share your information, such as your name and email address with such third party offering the promotion. For another example, if you request information, or buy products or services through the Site, we may use and disclose this information to others so as to comply with your request (for example, to disclose your information, including your credit card information, to secure payment, by using your email or street address to send you the requested information, product or service, to disclose your email or street address to our mailing, fulfillment and shipping companies so that the requested information, product or service may be sent to you). 

• Data Aggregation: We may aggregate your information with the information of others so that you can’t reasonably be identified, and we may use and disclose such statistical information for any purpose. 

• Site Analytics: We may use your information to help improve the operation of our Site, such as to diagnose problems with our server, to administer our Site, and to communicate with you with respect to your use of the Site, including, without limitation, to respond to email from you. 

• Successors: We may share your information with, and transfer it and our rights in it to, another entity that we acquire or may merge with us, which entity would have the right to use and disclose your information as we did.  

• USGA: Your information may be shared with and used by the USGA. You agree that the USGA’s use of your information will be governed by the USGA’s privacy policy, and we are not responsible for the privacy policy or activities of the USGA. 

• Golf Events: We may use your information to process entries associated with golf championships or other golf outings. 

• Communication: We may use your information to communicate with you or update you about your account, membership or registration, your transactions, and other activities on our Services, our relationship, or regarding this Privacy Policy. 

• Donations: We may use your information to solicit or process donations. 

• Market Research: We may use your information to contact you for market research. 

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

• Legal Compliance: We may use and disclose information that we have gathered from you or that you have provided to us if: 1) We believe that any law or regulation requires us to do so; 2) To respond to a subpoena or governmental request; 3) We deem it advisable or necessary to protect our safety, rights or property, or that of our employees, agents, affiliates, customers, other users of this Site, or others; 4) To respond to a possible violation of this Privacy Policy,[ our User Agreement,] any law or regulation; and/or 5) To enforce this Privacy Policy [and/or our User Agreement]. 

• Sharing with Third Parties: We may share your information with: 1) Service providers, technical consultants, and vendors who assist us, where in our opinion such sharing is reasonably necessary to providing you with a requested service or to operating and maintaining the Services (such as web site or database hosting companies, address list hosting companies, email service providers, analytics companies, advertising companies, distribution companies, fulfillment companies, payment processing companies and other similar vendors and services providers); 2) our affiliates (including our charitable organizations); 3) third-party auditors; and 4) any successor entity in the event we undertake a  transaction. 

Third-Party Advertisers 

Some of the advertisers on the Site and 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 websites to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. These advertisements may appear on the Services and on other websites. 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. 

Securing Your Information 

We will use reasonable precautions to keep the information about you that we have gathered protected from unauthorized use or access. For your safety and security on the Site, we may use security tools, such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and functionality such as encryption, flash objects, firewalls, passwords, or other security features. However, your external email communications with us are not protected by any digital security, and you should assume that such communications are visible by third parties. No transmission of data over the Internet or method of electronic storage is secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. Your use of the Services demonstrates your assumption of this risk. 

Use Caution When Visiting Other Websites 

Our Site may, from time to time, include links to other sites operated by other entities. Each of those links takes you to a site operated by another entity. Those sites may have different privacy policies. When traveling to other sites, please take time to check the applicable privacy policy of that site before you submit any personal information. Such policies are usually posted on the site or available through clearly posted links. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of or activities on other sites. 

Your Choices – Opting Out 

You can opt out of receiving promotional emails from the MGA. To do so, click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of any promotional email you may receive for the MGA. You also may email us at info@mgagolf.org and request an opt-out. We will need your name, address, telephone number, the email address or addresses, and the nature of the request. 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. We will use reasonable efforts to promptly comply with your request within 30 days. 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 MGA is not responsible for removing your information from third-party lists or databases, including lists and databases maintained by the USGA. If you wish to unsubscribe or opt-out from any third-party websites, you must go to that specific website to unsubscribe and/or opt out. You can restrict the use of certain parts 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 Websites 

Our website does contain links to affiliate and other websites. The MGA does not claim nor accept responsibility for any privacy policies, practices and/or procedures of other such websites. Therefore, we encourage all users and visitors to be aware when they leave our website and to read the privacy statements of every website that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies only and solely to the information collected by our website. 

Cookies 

Cookies are a technology that stores useful information about you and your computer that enables our Site to remember you when you return. We can only read cookies from our Site. You can change your privacy preferences regarding the use of cookies and similar technologies through your browser. 

You may set your browser to accept all cookies, block certain cookies, require your consent before a cookie is placed in your browser, or block all cookies. Blocking all cookies will affect your online experience and may prevent you from enjoying the full features offered on the Site and our Services may become unavailable or nonfunctional. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information. 

Not for Children Under 12 Years Old 

This Site is not directed to children under the age of 12, and therefore children under the age of 12 should not provide their information through this Site. We will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under 12. Additionally, children ages 12 years old or older should not provide their information to us through this Site except under the supervision and with the permission of their parent or guardian.

In the event the MGA learns we have collected Personal Information from a child under the age of 12 without verification of parental consent, we will delete such information as quickly as possible. When we refer to “your information” in this Privacy Policy, it refers to your Personal Information and Non-Personal Information as well as your child’s/minor dependent’s Personal Information and Non-Personal Information. 

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. 

Access, Corrections, Questions 

Access: In the event you wish to determine the nature of the information we have collected from or about you, please contact us by sending an email to: info@mgagolf.org. Please include your full name, your address, email address, telephone number, and explain the nature of your request. Your request can be as simple as “Please provide me with a summary of the information you have collected from or about me.” 

Updates and Corrections: If you have corrections or updates to information we maintain about you (your address, for example), please help us keep your information accurate by contacting us via email at info@mgagolf.org and provide us with the corrected information. Please include the information that you are updating or correcting (both old and new) so that we can more easily locate your record and update or correct it properly. Also include a telephone number and email address where we can reach you if we have further questions. 

Questions: If you have questions about the operation of this Site or other matters, please direct them to our attention at info@mgagolf.org.

Policy Changes 

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

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions 

By using this Site or any of the Apps, you signify your agreement to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, please do not use the Site or any of the Apps. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for any changes. Your continued use of coloradogolf.org following the posting of any changes to these terms shall mean that you have accepted those changes. 

This Privacy Policy was last updated on March 28, 2023