Choose how your club will maintain its roster
Before you begin importing members, decide which system is the source of truth for active membership and Handicap Indexes. ClubForge supports two roster-authority modes. You can change the setting later in Organization Preferences, but it is best to choose the approach that matches how your club already works.
Maintain a complete active roster externally
Choose this when your club already maintains one complete roster outside ClubForge, such as a club spreadsheet or an exported roster report.
- Each import is treated as the complete active roster.
- Members in the file are added or updated.
- Existing active members who are missing from the file are retained in ClubForge but marked inactive after you review and confirm the preview.
- Names, player IDs, phone numbers, Handicap Indexes, and active status come from the external roster.
- Email, ClubForge roles, and account settings remain manageable in ClubForge.
Maintain members in ClubForge
Choose this when ClubForge itself should control the active member list.
- You can add, edit, and inactivate members directly from the Members page.
- Roster imports add or update the members listed in the file.
- Members omitted from an import remain active.
- You may optionally enable the separate Update Handicaps workflow in Organization Preferences.
Prepare your member information
ClubForge accepts Excel (.xlsx), CSV, and text-based USGA/GHIN roster PDF files for roster imports. For an ordinary spreadsheet import, the required fields are Player ID, Last Name, and Email. First Name, Phone, Handicap Index, and Join Date are optional.
If you do not already have a roster file, the initial setup workflow provides a downloadable ClubForge Excel template.
Uploading a file does not immediately add, update, or deactivate members. ClubForge first validates the file, lets you confirm column mappings, and shows a preview of the proposed changes.
Initial setup workflow
- Choose roster file. Upload your existing roster or use the ClubForge template.
- Match columns. Review ClubForge's suggested mappings and correct any import issues.
- Review import. Examine new members, changes, conflicts, and—when using a complete external roster—members that would become inactive.
- Complete the import. Confirm the preview and import the roster. ClubForge then summarizes the result and shows member-access information.
Member access after import
Imported members do not require an administrator to create a password for them. Active members can activate their own ClubForge account from the organization's login page. A valid email address is important for the normal activation and account-recovery workflow.