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Individual Tournaments

Create and manage individual golf tournaments with Stroke Play or Stableford scoring, optional side games (Skins and Closest-to-Pin), and multi-flight support for fair competition across skill levels.

Premium Feature: Creating Individual tournaments requires an active Premium subscription. All players must have registered accounts (no guest players).

Overview

The Individual Tournament system lets you organize competitive events for any group size. Each player competes individually (not on teams) across one or more rounds, with automatic leaderboard calculation and optional side games.

Key Features:

  • Two primary formats: Stroke Play (lowest score wins) and Stableford (most points wins)
  • NET or GROSS scoring with full USGA handicap calculations
  • Optional Skins side game — per-flight skins with configurable value and carryover
  • Optional Closest-to-Pin (CTP) — distance measurements on designated par 3 holes
  • Multi-flight support — auto-balanced by handicap for fair competition
  • Multi-round support (1-4 rounds)
  • Playing groups for on-course logistics (tee times or shotgun start)
  • Real-time live leaderboard during active rounds
  • Mobile-friendly score entry interface

Formats Explained

Stroke Play

The classic golf format — lowest total score wins. Leaderboard shows score relative to par (e.g., -2, E, +5).

Stableford

Points-based scoring — highest total points wins. Points are awarded per hole based on score relative to par:

ScorePoints
Double Bogey or worse0
Bogey1
Par2
Birdie3
Eagle4
Albatross5

For NET Stableford, handicap strokes are applied before calculating points.

Handicap Allowance (NET only). By default every player receives their full course handicap (100%). Organizers can lower this on the Settings page before the tournament starts — the app offers 100%, 95%, 90% and 85%.

The USGA recommends 95% for individual stroke play in fields of 30–100 players, and notes 100% may be used for fields under 30. Most buddy tournaments are small, which is why the default stays at 100% and you opt in.

The allowance applies to the whole tournament, every flight included, so no two leaderboards can ever give the same player a different score. When one is in effect the Players tab shows what each player actually plays off — for example CH: 13 · Plays off: 12 (95%).

It locks once play begins, along with the scoring type.

How to Use

Creating a Tournament

  1. Open the menu (hamburger icon, top-right on mobile) → Games → Tournaments
  2. On the Tournament Hub, tap the Individual Tournament card
  3. Click "Create Tournament" (Premium subscription required)
  4. Follow the 5-step wizard:

Step 1: Tournament Info

  • Enter tournament name and optional description
  • Select tournament date(s)
  • Search for golf course using the course search
  • Course rating, slope, and hole data are auto-filled when available
  • Select tees for the tournament

Step 2: Format & Settings

  • Choose format: Stroke Play or Stableford
  • Choose scoring: NET (handicap-adjusted) or GROSS (raw scores)
  • Set number of rounds (1-4)
  • Set playing group size (default 4)
  • Choose start type: Tee Times or Shotgun Start
  • Choose visibility: Private, Unlisted, or Public

Step 3: Side Games (Optional)

  • Skins: Toggle on to enable per-flight skins competition
    • Settlement: choose how skins money works
      • Per-hole stakes (default) — each hole is worth a set skin value; winners are settled head-to-head. Best for small groups.
      • Buy-in pot — each player antes a buy-in; the pot (players × buy-in) is split by skins won. Best for big fields. With flights you can run one combined pot or a pot per flight.
    • Toggle carryover on ties (default ON)
    • Participation: choose who's in the skins pot
      • All players (default) — everyone registered competes for skins. Nothing extra to manage.
      • Opt-in only — skins is a separate game; only selected players are in the pot. After creating the tournament, pick who's in from the Manage tab (see Managing the Skins Roster).
  • Closest-to-Pin (CTP): Toggle on to enable CTP measurements
    • Par 3 holes are auto-detected from course data
    • Select which holes to include

Step 4: Add Players

  • Your buddies are shown by default
  • Filter buddies by name using the search box
  • Click "Search All Users" to find any registered user
  • Click the + icon to add a player
  • All players must have registered accounts (no guests)
  • Players without a handicap show an amber warning badge

Step 5: Flights & Review

  • Set number of flights (default 2)
  • Preview shows automatic player distribution by handicap
  • Optionally assign different tee boxes per flight (e.g., Championship flight plays from the back tees, B Flight plays from the whites). Select a tee from the dropdown under each flight preview card
  • Review all tournament details
  • Click "Create Tournament"

Viewing flighted results: When a tournament has more than one flight, the Leaderboard tab shows filter buttons above the standings: All Players plus one per flight. All Players is the default and ranks the entire field together; picking a flight ranks just that flight from 1st. Both views come from the same scores and the same handicap allowance, so they can never disagree about how a player scored — only about who they are being compared against.

Anyone not yet assigned to a flight still appears under All Players, so a player added after the flights were built is never missing from the standings.

Managing Players

Setting Handicaps:

  • Go to the Players tab on the tournament page
  • Players without a handicap show an amber warning badge
  • As organizer, click the pencil icon next to any player
  • Enter their handicap index and press Enter or click Save
  • Course handicap is automatically recalculated

Important for NET Scoring:

  • All players must have a handicap set before a round can be started
  • The Start button is disabled and a warning banner is shown if any player is missing a handicap

Moving Players Between Flights:

  • Flights are auto-balanced by handicap during creation
  • Players can be manually moved between flights using the arrow icon next to each player in the Players tab
  • Moving a player to a flight with a different tee override will automatically recalculate their course handicap

Changing Flight Tee Boxes:

  • Go to the Manage tab → Flight Management section
  • Each flight shows a tee box dropdown (when course tees are available)
  • Changing a flight's tee automatically recalculates course handicaps for all players in that flight
  • Rebalancing flights preserves existing tee assignments

Managing the Skins Roster

This only applies when Skins is set to Opt-in only (see Step 3 above). With All players, everyone is automatically in the pot and there's nothing to manage.

  • Go to the Manage tab → Side Game Settings.
  • Use the Participation toggle to switch between All players and Opt-in at any time (you can change it after creating the tournament).
  • In Opt-in mode, a Skins Roster appears with a switch next to each player:
    • Flip a player on to put them in the pot; off to remove them.
    • Add all / Clear all set everyone at once.
    • A live summary shows how many players are in and the current pot (players in × skin value), e.g. "6 in · $30 pot".
  • Only players switched on compete for skins. Players who aren't in the pot can't win a skin and don't affect carryovers.
  • You need at least 2 players in for a skins game to make sense (a reminder is shown if fewer).

With flights: skins is played as a separate pot per flight, so the roster groups players by flight. Each flight shows its own count and pot (e.g. "A Flight — 3 in · $15"), its own Add all / Clear buttons, and its own "needs ≥2 players" reminder. Players not yet assigned to a flight appear under Unassigned — they can be toggled, but won't compete until you assign them to a flight. The same per-flight pots also show on the Side Games tab next to each flight's results.

Note: In opt-in mode, players also get a "Join the skins game" checkbox when they register, so they can put themselves in the pot. The organizer roster is the final say — you can add or remove anyone here regardless of what they picked at registration (handy for cash/in-person sign-ups).

Setting Up Playing Groups

Playing groups determine who plays together on the course. Groups are separate from flights.

  1. Go to the Groups tab
  2. Click "Auto-Assign Groups" to automatically create balanced groups
  3. Choose grouping mode:
    • Within Flights — players grouped with others from the same flight
    • Mixed — players sorted by handicap across all flights
  4. For multi-round tournaments, select the round number to manage groups per round

Manual Group Editing (Organizer, Setup Only):

  • Tap any player name in a group card to open the move/swap modal
  • Move: If the target group has room, click "Move here"
  • Swap: If the target group is full, click "Swap" next to another player
  • Remove: Click "Remove from group" to move a player to the unassigned pool

Group Flight Labels:

  • Groups with all players from the same flight show that flight name badge
  • Groups with players from multiple flights show a "Mixed" badge, with each player's flight shown next to their name

Scoring During Tournament

Once the organizer starts a round:

  1. Click "Enter Scores" on the Overview tab, or go to the Groups tab and find your group
  2. The score entry page shows:
    • Progress bar (holes completed out of 18)
    • Current hole with par and stroke index
    • All players in your group with +/- score buttons
    • Handicap strokes per player per hole (for NET scoring)
    • Net score preview
    • Scorecard stroke dots: Small dots on the gross score row of the scorecard show handicap stroke allocation per hole (NET scoring). Dots appear on all 18 holes -- including unscored holes -- so you can see your full allocation before playing. Up to 2 dots per hole for double-stroke holes.

Scoring Features:

  • Use +/- buttons or type the score directly
  • Click "Save Hole" to record scores for all players on that hole
  • Auto-advances to the next unscored hole after saving
  • Draft scores are saved locally -- your work won't be lost if you close the app
  • Tap the hole number header to open a quick-jump grid
  • Supports shotgun starts (circular hole navigation)
  • CTP entry appears automatically on designated par 3 holes (when CTP side game is enabled)

CTP Distance Entry:

  • When your group reaches a CTP hole, a measurement input appears
  • Enter distance in any format: 4'2", 1.3m, 15ft, or 4 2 (feet space inches)
  • Distances are normalized for accurate comparison

Who Can Enter Scores:

  • Any player in a group can enter scores for that group
  • Tournament organizers can enter scores for any group

Viewing the Leaderboard

The leaderboard updates in real time as scores are entered:

  1. Go to the Leaderboard tab
  2. Results are shown per flight with format-specific ranking:
    • Stroke Play: Players ranked by score to par (lowest wins)
    • Stableford: Players ranked by total points (highest wins)
  3. Column layout depends on scoring type:
    • NET tournaments: Shows Position, Player, Gross (score-to-par), Net (score-to-par), and Thru (holes completed). Ordered by Net score so you can see both your raw and handicap-adjusted performance.
    • GROSS tournaments: Shows Position, Player, Score (score-to-par), and Thru (holes completed). Ordered by Gross score.
  4. Tied players share the same position number
  5. A live indicator shows when results are computed in real time
  6. For completed rounds, saved results are displayed

Side Game Results

If side games are enabled, view results on the Side Games tab:

Skins Results (per flight):

  • Holes are hidden until at least one group has entered scores for that hole -- the full 18-hole grid is not shown upfront
  • Provisional results (muted/gray text): When some but not all groups have scored a hole, the current leader is shown as provisional and may change
  • Confirmed results: When all groups in the flight have scored a hole, the result is finalized -- either a winner name or "Skin carries over" for ties
  • A green dot next to the hole number indicates all groups have completed that hole. A legend next to the flight name explains the indicator.
  • Skins leaderboard shows players ranked by skins won
  • Dollar amounts and settlement are only shown after the round is completed -- not during active play

CTP Results:

  • Closest player for each designated par 3 hole
  • Distance measurements for all participants

Tournament Lifecycle

StageWhat Happens
SetupTournament created, players added, flights and groups configured
ActiveOrganizer starts a round -- scoring is enabled, live leaderboard active
Round CompleteOrganizer completes a round -- leaderboard and side game results are saved
Tournament CompleteAll rounds finished -- final results available

Setup Checklist (Organizer): When the tournament is in setup, an expandable checklist appears at the top of the tournament page guiding you through: Add Players (≥2), Set Handicaps (NET only), Create Playing Groups, Configure Contest Holes (if CTP is enabled), and Start Tournament. Each step has a button that takes you to the right place; the checklist auto-collapses so you can see what you need to do.

Starting a Tournament (Organizer):

  1. From the colored tournament header, click "Start Tournament" (single-round) or open the Manage tab and click "Start" next to the round you want to begin (multi-round)
  2. The button is locked until: at least one player is added, all players have a handicap (NET scoring only), and a pending round exists
  3. Round status changes to Active and score entry links appear

Completing a Round (Organizer):

  • Single-round tournament: From the Manage tab, click "Complete Tournament" in the Tournament Actions card
  • Multi-round tournament: From the Manage tab → Round Controls, click "Complete" next to the active round
  • Leaderboard is calculated per flight, skins and CTP results are computed (if enabled), and results are saved permanently

Adding Players After Creation (Organizer):

  1. Open the Players tab and click "Add Players" (visible while in setup status)
  2. Pick from your buddies or toggle "Search all registered users" to find anyone by name
  3. Tap Add next to a player to add them immediately

Editing Tournament Settings (Organizer):

  • Click "Settings" in the colored tournament header or "Tournament Settings" in the Manage tab
  • Edit name, description, date, visibility, max players, branding (logo + banner), course rating/slope, format/scoring/rounds/group size, side games (Skins, CTP par-3 holes), and link out to the Rules editor
  • Format/scoring/rounds/group size and date/course-rating/slope lock once the tournament starts; other fields stay editable

Deleting a Tournament (Organizer):

  • Available from the Settings page (Save / Delete buttons at the bottom)
  • Setup tournaments are fully deleted
  • Active/completed tournaments are cancelled (data preserved)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's the difference between Stroke Play and Stableford? A: Stroke Play ranks by total strokes (lowest wins). Stableford awards points per hole based on score relative to par (highest points wins). Stableford is more forgiving of bad holes since a double bogey or worse always scores 0 points.

Q: How many players can an individual tournament have? A: New tournaments start with a 120-player limit, but you can raise Max Players to as many as 500 on the Settings page. Use flights to organize large groups fairly.

Q: Can I run a tournament without flights? A: Flights are enabled by default but all players will compete in a single pool if only one flight is configured.

Q: What side games are available? A: Skins (per-flight with configurable value and carryover) and Closest-to-Pin (distance measurements on par 3 holes). Both are optional and configured during tournament creation.

Q: Does everyone have to be in the skins game? A: Your choice. When you enable Skins, you pick a Participation mode: All players (everyone is automatically in the pot — the default) or Opt-in only (only the players you select are in). In opt-in mode you manage who's in from the Manage tab → Side Game Settings → Skins Roster, and only those players compete for skins. CTP is always open to everyone playing the hole.

Q: How do I add or remove someone from the skins pot? A: Set Skins to Opt-in only, then on the Manage tab use the Skins Roster to switch players in or out (or use Add all / Clear all). The pot total updates live as players are added (players in × skin value). Players can also opt themselves in via a "Join the skins game" checkbox when they register — but the organizer roster always wins, so you can override anyone's choice.

Q: We're a big group and everyone's putting in $10 — how do I set that up? A: Set Skins Settlement to Buy-in pot and enter the buy-in per player ($10). The pot is players in × buy-in, and after play it's split by skins won: pot ÷ total skins won = value per skin, and each winner gets their skins × value per skin. Example: 24 players × $10 = $240 pot; if 6 skins are won that's $40 per skin, so a 2-skin winner takes $80. If nobody wins a skin (everything ties), buy-ins are returned. The Side Games tab shows the pot, value-per-skin, and each winner's payout. With flights you can keep one combined pot or give each flight its own (Settlement → Pot scope). The other model, Per-hole stakes, instead makes each hole worth a fixed dollar value and settles head-to-head — better for small groups.

Q: What happens if a player doesn't have a handicap? A: The player can be added, but for NET scoring tournaments, all players must have a handicap before the round can be started. Organizers can set handicaps from the Players tab.

Q: Can guest players participate? A: No. All players must have registered Buddies on the Green accounts.

Q: Who can enter scores? A: Any player within a group can enter scores for their group. Organizers can enter scores for any group.

Q: Are scores saved if I close the app mid-hole? A: Yes. Draft scores are saved locally and restored when you return to the scoring page.

Q: How do multi-round tournaments work? A: Each round has independent leaderboard and side game results. The organizer starts and completes rounds in sequence. Groups can be reassigned between rounds.

Q: How do I find public tournaments to join? A: On the Individual Tournaments hub page, click the "Open" tab to browse all public tournaments. You can view details and join from the tournament detail page.

Q: What's the difference between playing groups and flights? A: Flights determine who you compete against on the leaderboard and for skins (calculated per flight). Playing groups determine who you walk/ride with on the course. A group can have players from different flights.

Q: How does CTP (Closest-to-Pin) work? A: During scoring on designated par 3 holes, any player can enter a distance measurement. The system accepts multiple formats (feet/inches, meters, etc.) and determines the closest player for each hole.

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