Joins golfers playing here (5)
I believe the answer is:
links
'joins' is the definition.
('link' can be a synonym of 'join')
'golfers playing here' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'playing' could be 'in' and 'in' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for links that I've seen before include "Bonds" , "Rings or loops of a chain" , "Golf-course" , "provides connections to other websites" , "course for sportspeople" .)