Reciprocal golf agreements, explained.

A reciprocal golf agreement is an arrangement between golf clubs that lets the members of one club play at the other, on agreed terms: which days, at what rate, how often and with how many players. Most agreements work in both directions.

They are also called reciprocal arrangements, reciprocal playing rights or inter-club agreements. In the United States the usual word is reciprocity, as in "our club has reciprocity with yours".

Clubs use these words in slightly different ways, but usually reciprocal clubs have a two-way agreement, so the members of each club can play at the other. An affiliate arrangement is often looser, for example access to a partner club or a group of clubs at a guest or reduced rate. Sister clubs or twinned clubs usually describe a particularly close relationship between two clubs.

The Reciprocal records each partner club with its type and its own terms.

At most clubs a reciprocal round still starts in the club office. The member finds the partner list on the club website and asks the office for a letter of introduction. The office emails the host club, waits for a reply or follows up by phone, and confirms the date, rate and conditions. On the day, the member brings the letter and ID.

That is six steps and two club offices for one round of golf.

Because using them is often more effort than it is worth. Every club has its own rules and paperwork, partner clubs appear as a list rather than a map, and finding the right contact can take several emails or calls.

When a benefit is hard to use, members stop using it, and the agreements slowly lose their value to the club.

The Reciprocal brings a club's reciprocal agreements together in one place. Members see every partner club on a map and list on your own website, with clear terms, and request a round online. The host club approves or declines from a link in an email, unanswered requests are followed up automatically, and the club office keeps a clear record of every agreement.

See how it works.

No. Partner clubs work from email: they confirm a member's membership, or answer a request from one of your members, with one click. There is nothing to log in to and nothing to install.

Yes. For each partner club you record the terms in both directions: playing days and times, the rate, how many rounds a member may play, group size, booking window, blocked dates and cancellation. Members only see the days and times their terms allow.

Once a year, at a member's first request. Usually the member's home club confirms the membership with one click from an email. For a partner club you can also choose to check a membership card instead, or to accept its members on trust.

No. The Reciprocal handles the requests; your club books the tee time in its own tee sheet, as it does now, and can add the tee sheet reference to the request.

No. Visiting members pay the agreed rate at your desk, as they do today. The rate is shown on the request and on the day sheet, so the desk knows what to charge.

The Reciprocal is in development, and we are working with clubs on the first version. If you would like to see it for your own club or help shape it, take our short survey.

The Reciprocal is built by Jeroen Korving and Leonard van Nunen, the team behind The Centenary, the reciprocal network for golf clubs founded more than a hundred years ago. It runs as its own service, with its own systems and data. More about us.