Spectator View
Watch your buddies play live with a real-time leaderboard featuring 3D flip animations, color-coded scoring, and automatic hole tracking.
Overview
Spectator View is a live, tournament-style leaderboard for following a golf round as it happens. When a player enters a score on the course, every spectator's screen updates instantly — no refreshing needed.
Key Features:
- Real-time score updates via live data sync
- 3D cascading flip animations when scores change
- Color-coded scoring (birdie green, bogey red, eagle yellow, etc.)
- Ranked leaderboard with position change indicators
- Automatic hole navigation — always shows the latest action
- Hole-out celebrations (chip-ins, bunker shots, hole-in-ones)
- Live comments with other spectators and players
Accessing Spectator View
How to get invited:
- The round owner creates a multi-player round
- During setup, they add you as a buddy and set your role to Spectator
- When the round starts, you receive a push notification with a direct link
You can also find it:
- Go to Rounds → Shared Rounds in the menu
- Find the active round and tap it
Access: Premium subscription required.
Roles in a Round
When creating a multi-player round, the owner assigns each buddy a role:
| Role | Can Enter Scores | Appears on Leaderboard | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Yes (own scores) | Yes | Actively playing the round |
| Spectator | No | No | Watching the round live |
| Scorekeeper | Yes (all players) | Depends — see below | Entering scores for others |
About scorekeepers: whether a scorekeeper shows up on the leaderboard depends on how the owner added them. The usual setup is to share the round in spectate mode with the scorekeeper option turned on — that person keeps everyone's scores but isn't playing, so they don't appear on the leaderboard. If the owner instead shares in play mode with the scorekeeper option, that buddy is playing and keeping score, so they do appear.
What You See
Player Cards
Each player gets a card on the leaderboard showing:
- Avatar with rank badge — while the round is live: 1st = blue, 2nd = red, 3rd = white, 4th = yellow. Once the round is complete, the top three swap to medal badges (🥇 🥈 🥉).
- Player name
- Current hole score with color-coded badge and label (Birdie, Par, Bogey, etc.)
- Total score (large) with score-to-par
- "THRU X" badge showing holes completed
- Hole-out details when applicable (e.g., "Holed: Chip - 23 yds")
After the round completes, "THRU X" becomes "FINAL", showing the player's gross score and score-to-par. Spectator View doesn't show net scores.
Color-Coded Scoring
Scores use standard golf color conventions:
| Score | Color |
|---|---|
| Eagle or better | Yellow |
| Birdie | Green |
| Par | Gray (shown as "E") |
| Bogey | Red |
| Double Bogey+ | Deeper red shades |
The "Last N holes" strip below the cards adds traditional scorecard notation on top of the colors — circles for scores under par (birdie and better) and squares for scores over par (bogey and worse).
Leaderboard Rankings
- Players are sorted best to worst (lowest score-to-par first)
- The leader's card has a blue border with glow effect
- When positions change, temporary badges show movement (green "up 2" or red "down 1")
3D Flip Animations
Every time a score updates, all player cards perform a cascading 3D horizontal flip:
- The leader's card flips first
- Each subsequent player flips 150ms later
- A green pulse ring glows around updated cards
Auto-Navigation
You don't need to manually switch between holes. The view automatically jumps to whichever hole was most recently scored, so you're always watching where the action is happening.
Live Comments
If the round owner has enabled comments, spectators can post real-time comments visible to all players, scorekeepers, and other spectators in the round. Comments are private to the round — not public.
Live Viewer Indicators
Players and the round owner can see which spectators are actively watching the round right now:
- Green glowing ring around the spectator's avatar means they're watching live
- A pulsing green dot with "X live" text appears below the spectator count
- When a spectator joins, their avatar briefly pops to draw attention
- Live spectators are sorted to the front of the avatar row
- Hovering over a live spectator's avatar shows "Name · Watching live"
Tap the spectator card to open a detail drawer showing each spectator by name:
- Live spectators appear at the top with a green ring and "Watching now" status
- Not watching spectators appear below with "Not currently watching" status
- Swipe down or tap the backdrop to close the drawer
When a spectator closes the page or loses connection, their green ring disappears within seconds.
Score Achievement Notifications
While spectating a live round, you'll receive push notifications for notable achievements:
- Birdie, Eagle, Albatross, Condor, Hole-in-One
- Triple Bogey and Big Numbers
- Drink milestones (fun social tracking)
- Trees hit — a running, escalating tally for the round. The more trees a player finds, the further up the ladder the (increasingly cheeky) alert goes.
Common Questions
Q: Can I be a spectator without Premium? A: No. Spectator View requires a Premium subscription or an active free trial. (Administrator and founding buddy accounts also have access.)
Q: Can spectators enter or edit scores? A: No. Spectators have view-only access. Only Players and Scorekeepers can enter scores.
Q: Does it work offline? A: Spectator View requires an internet connection for real-time updates. If a player enters scores offline, you'll see them once the player reconnects.
Q: Can I be added as a spectator mid-round? A: Yes. The round owner can add spectators at any time, even during an active round.
Q: Where do I find completed rounds I spectated? A: Go to Rounds → Shared Rounds. Completed rounds remain accessible for review.
Related Guides
- Rounds and Scoring Guide — Creating rounds and assigning roles
- Buddy System Guide — Connect with buddies to invite them to rounds
Need Help?
- AI Support Chat: Tap the help button in the app
- Email: support@buddiesonthegreen.com