❓ Frequently Asked Questions

It's your group's tee sheet, draft board, live scoreboard and trash talk, all in one place. Instead of scrolling back through forty-seven group-chat messages to figure out who's actually playing Saturday, everyone just taps a button. Revolutionary, we know.

Ask whoever's already on the site for an invite link. Tap it, set up your account (username, email, password) and add your handicap index, and you're in. No codes to memorize and no group to hunt for. Invite links don't expire, so whoever sent yours can just resend the same one if you need it again. Don't know your handicap index? Check I don't know my index yet and you'll start on 18.0 as a placeholder, with a reminder a few days later to enter your real one.

Absolutely. Open Register, pick Start a new group, and you'll create a brand new group with yourself as its first Group Manager. Congratulations on the promotion, nobody else applied. Invite the rest of your foursome once you're set up.

New players see a short 📋 Getting started list at the top of the Home page: set your handicap index, mark yourself In for a date, and get a first match set up. Group Managers also get Invite your group. Each step ticks itself off as you do it, and the list disappears once everything is done. Rather not see it? Tap Hide this.

The menu follows a round from start to finish:

• 🏠 Home: your dashboard. Your next round, what's coming up, the latest Group Chat and recent results.
• 📆 Calendar: pick a date and tap In, Out or Maybe. The progress bar on a match date shows what's done and what's next. Your next round is on Home.
• 🏆 Match: agree the rules in Match Setup, see Who's In, then post scores and talk trash in Match Chat once you tee off.
• ⚖️ Teams: Captains draft their sides here, or the Commissioner places players.
• Group: Group Chat, the player list, the leaderboard, and the invite link. Group Managers also get a Settings tab.
• Your name (top right): opens your account menu. My Profile has your handicap index, match stats and history, a map of courses played and a feedback box. How it works walks through a round, Help & FAQ brings you to this page, and Log out is in there too.

The Calendar, Match, Teams, Group and My Profile pages each have a ❓ Help link in their banner that jumps straight to the answer for that page. A dot next to Match or Group means there are chat messages you haven't seen yet. A dot next to Teams means a match you're In still needs its teams picked, and you're one of the people who can pick them. On a phone the menu folds up behind the ☰ button, which shows a dot of its own whenever one of these does. Not sure what something means? Look for a small ℹ️ next to it, then hover over it (or tap it on your phone).

Sure, join as many as your calendar (and your golf budget) can handle. Once you're in two or more, a group switcher appears up in the navigation bar so you can flip between them, and each one keeps its own separate calendar, matches and history.

Head to the Calendar, pick the date and tap In, Out or Maybe. It saves the moment you tap, and you can change your answer anytime until your match starts. If you've already been drafted, switching to Out or Maybe takes you off your team (the page asks first). Answered by mistake? Tap Clear my answer. Whoever says In first gets to run that day's match as Match Commissioner, so show up early if you enjoy being in charge.

See a fourth Placeholder option? That's an extra status some groups use. It only shows up when a Group Manager turns it on in the group's Settings tab.

Yes. The Match Commissioner, a Captain or a Group Manager can open Match Details on the Match page and tap Manage Player Status under Who's In to set another player's status. Marking someone In adds them to the draft pool, and any other status takes them out of it (and off their team, if they'd been drafted). Whatever the player picks for themselves later always wins.

That's the round progress bar for that date's match. It follows every round through five steps: Who's In, Setup, Teams, Play and Done.

A green check means a step is finished, and the gold dot is where the round is right now (Play reads Playing once scores start coming in). On a computer, hover over a step for a quick hint. Tap any step to jump to the page where it happens. It only shows up once someone is In for that date.

However your group likes to do it: a Captain's draft where Captains take turns picking their squads, or teams assigned outright by the Commissioner or a Group Manager. Both happen on the Teams page, which also shows the Combined Team Index for each side as it fills up. Either way, the idea is to have it settled before anyone reaches the range, so there's no sorting it out on the first tee.

Yes. On the Match page, tap the 👀 next to the Scoreboard heading to copy (or, on a phone, share) a watch only link. Whoever opens it sees the live scoreboard and hole by hole graph without logging in. They can't chat, score or change anything.

Yes. Past rounds stay on your Calendar, and each match keeps its full box score and chat, so that career round from three months ago is still there to relive. Same goes for the meltdown on sixteen, unfortunately.

Pick one under Scoring in Match Setup, or let Start from Preset Match Template fill in the usual settings for you. Every type except Point Quota can be played Net (handicaps level the field) or Gross (raw scores). Each one has its own answer below:

• Match Play: win the most holes.
• Stroke Play: lowest total wins.
• Skins: one skin a hole for the single lowest score, ties carry over.
• Point Quota: points for every hole against each player's own target.
• Nassau: Front 9, Back 9 and Overall 18, three bets in one.
• Yellow Ball: best ball where one rotating Yellow Ball always counts.

Each hole goes to the side with the lower score, and the side that wins the most holes wins. Net or Gross.

Entering scores: with two teams, nobody counts strokes. Pick the hole and tap who won it, or Halved. Anyone in the match can tap it for the whole hole. The scoreboard shows who's up (2 UP, AS for all square) and warns when a side is dormie.

How it ends: the match ends itself the moment it's decided, like 3&2. All square after the last hole goes to sudden death extra holes until someone wins one.

With three or more teams there's no single "who's up", so every team posts strokes instead, just like Stroke Play, and the lowest total wins.

Add up every stroke, and the lowest total wins. Any number of teams, Net or Gross. Some clubs call this medal play (see why we say Stroke Play).

Entering scores: tap +, E or − on each hole to record the score against par. Score Entry in Match Setup decides whose score that is: Team means one best ball score per team (whoever is tapping already knows the team's low ball), and Individual means every player gets their own score and the team counts its best one.

How it ends: Stroke Play never ends itself. Once every hole is posted the Match page puts an End Match button at the top, and the lowest total wins. A tie for low shows as Won (Tied).

They're the same format: add up every stroke, and the lowest total wins. Some clubs (and a lot of golf in the UK) still call it medal play, from the medals clubs used to award for the low round.

We picked Stroke Play because it's the term the official Rules of Golf use, it's what most golfers hear on TV and see on tournament sheets today, and it pairs naturally with Match Play: one counts strokes, the other counts holes. Showing both names would only make them look like two different games, so the site uses one. If your group says medal, just pick Stroke Play.

Every hole is worth one skin, won by the single lowest score. A tie for low carries the skin over, so the next hole is worth more. Most skins wins. Any number of teams, even everyone on their own, Net or Gross.

Entering scores: pick the hole and tap the team with the lowest score, or Tied. The Match page shows what the next hole is worth.

How it ends: the match ends itself after the last hole. If skins are still carried over and you want to play on for them, reopen the match and keep tapping extra holes until someone wins one. Skins won also add up on each player's Profile.

Always gross, since the targets already allow for handicaps. Every player earns points on every hole: Albatross 8, Eagle 6, Birdie 4, Par 2, Bogey 1, Double Bogey or worse 0. Each player chases their own quota target, set from their handicap (often 36 minus course handicap over 18 holes). A player's +/- is points minus target, and the team with the best combined +/- wins.

Before you tee off: set everyone's target under Point Quota Players. You can set your own, a Captain can set their team's, and the Commissioner or a Group Manager can set anyone's. Each box suggests a target from the player's handicap. A player with no target counts for nothing in the result.

Entering scores: on each hole pick what every player on the team made (Par, Birdie, Bogey and so on) and tap Post Team Hole Scores, which turns on once every player has a score. Pick a posted hole to fix it. While play is on, the scoreboard and chart measure each team against its pace for the holes played so far.

How it ends: tap End Match once every hole is posted. The best combined +/- wins.

Three match play bets in one, always one team against one team over 18 holes: the Front 9 (the first nine holes played), the Back 9 (the last nine) and the Overall 18. Net or Gross. Match Setup won't save a Nassau with more than two teams or other than 18 holes.

Entering scores: tap who won each hole, or Halved, just like Match Play. The same taps feed all three legs, and the Nassau card on the Match page tracks each one.

How it ends: each leg can close out early (the Front won 2&1 after the 8th, say) or end tied, and a tied leg is won by nobody. The match ends itself after the 18th. The team that wins the most legs wins the Nassau, and winning all three is a sweep. Only the Nassau itself counts as a Win in group stats, not a single leg.

Presses are not scored on GolfGroupies, but players can still play them in person, and the original Nassau keeps being scored either way.

Stroke play best ball for teams of any size (4v4 is the classic, and 4v4v4 works too), Net or Gross. Each team rotates one Yellow Ball between its players, however the team decides, and the Yellow Ball's score always counts. The site doesn't track whose turn it is.

In Match Setup: Balls Counted is set once for the match. 1BB counts only the Yellow Ball. 2BB adds the best score of anyone else on the team, so every team needs at least 2 players. Lost Yellow Ball sets a penalty of 0 to 5 strokes.

Entering scores: each team posts its own card, always one score per team. The mustard section at the bottom of each hole is the Yellow Ball's score. For 2BB, the Other Ball line above it is the team's best other score, and the hole only counts once both are in. Lost the Yellow Ball? Tap Lost in the mustard section once that hole's Yellow Ball score is in, and the penalty is added to the team's score there. Tap it again to undo.

How it ends: tap End Match once every hole is posted. The lowest total wins, penalties included.

Your group agrees the format and the bet in Match Setup before anyone tees off. Anyone playing can help set it, and it locks once the first score is posted.

Then scores go in on the Match page as you play, on the Enter Scores card. How you enter them depends on the format, and each one's answer under Match Types walks through it: Match Play, Stroke Play, Skins, Point Quota, Nassau and Yellow Ball.

Teeing off somewhere other than hole 1 (the 10th, or a shotgun start)? Set Starting Hole on the Enter Scores card and the holes are numbered to match. Results still follow the order you play, so a Nassau's Front 9 is always the first nine holes you play.

Each tap saves right away without reloading the page, and the next hole to play is outlined and marked Up next. Everyone watches the scoreboard move in real time, gloating rights included. Match Play, Skins and Nassau end themselves once decided. For everything else, a Captain, the Commissioner or a Group Manager taps End Match so the result counts on the leaderboard. Once every hole is posted, the Match page puts an End Match button right at the top so nobody forgets.

Tap Edit setup to open every option at once, change what you like, then tap Save setup. Not sure where to start? Pick a popular template from Start from Preset Match Template and it fills in the boxes for you. Nothing is saved until you tap Save setup.

• Scoring: the match type: Match Play, Stroke Play, Skins, Point Quota, Nassau or Yellow Ball. See What match types can we play? for how each one works.
• Net / Gross: Net lets handicaps level the field. Gross is the raw score, no strokes given.
• Score Entry: Team means one best ball score per team on each hole. Individual means every player gets their own score on each hole.
• Holes: 18, 9, or Other, which shows a box for your own number of holes.
• Max Players: how many can play. 0 means no limit.
• Team Sizes: how many teams and how big, written like 2v2, 3v1 or 2v2v2. The group's Default Match Setup has its own Team Sizes that every new match starts from.
• Teams: Drafted means Captains take turns picking. Assigned means the Commissioner (or a Group Manager) places everyone.
• Captains Selected: Low Index makes the lowest handicaps Captains. Random leaves it to luck.
• Draft Order: Snake flips the order every round (1, 2, then 2, 1) so first pick doesn't get every edge. Straight keeps the same order each round.
• Terms / Bet: whatever your group is playing for, in your own words.
• Tee and Tee Time: set by the Commissioner or a Group Manager. The group's Default Tee is where every match starts.
• Course: search by name or postal code to link the course you're playing, or add one that isn't listed yet. Its name and logo then show on the Calendar, Teams and Match pages.

Every new match starts from the group's defaults, which a Group Manager sets on the Group page's Settings tab.

Nice work. On your Profile page (or when you sign up), type the number as you normally would and check the + Index box next to it. So a +2.0 is entered as 2.0 with the box checked. Your pill then shows +2.0 everywhere on the site, just like golfers write it.

Adding a Guest with a plus index on the Teams page? There's no checkbox there, so just type it any of these ways: +1.5, plus 1.5, -1.5 or minus 1.5. They all mean the same +1.5. Valid range is +10.0 to 54.0.

Team math works the way it does on the course: a plus index counts against the team total. A 3.0 paired with a +2.0 is a Combined Team Index of 1.0, not 5.0.

Your index pill ages like a flower. The day you update it, it's a fresh bright green. Every week it goes without an update, it wilts one step, so the whole group can see at a glance whose index is current and whose might be out of date. Hover over any pill (or tap it on your phone) to see exactly how many days it's been.

• 12.4Fresh: updated within the last 7 days
• 12.4Drooping: 8 to 14 days
• 12.4Fading: 15 to 21 days
• 12.4Wilted: 22 to 28 days
• 12.4Gone: 29 to 35 days
• 12.4Overdue: more than 5 weeks. Time to update!
• 12.4Guest: Guests stay blue, since they can't log in to update their own index

A team's Combined Team Index pill takes the color of its stalest player, since the total is only as current as its oldest number. Once scoring starts, the team pill's color locks in for that match, so it always shows how current the team's indexes were when the round began. Each player's own pill never locks. It always shows how current their index is today, on every page.

Once your index goes more than 2 weeks without an update, you'll get a quick reminder to update it right there. If it hasn't changed, just tap Still the same and your pill goes straight back to fresh green. Tap Not now and it won't ask again until the next weekly step, so it never nags you every time you open the site. It also never pops up while you're entering scores during a round.

You can also update it anytime on your Profile page. Saving the same number there counts too, and restarts the clock.

Golf has a language all its own. None of these are scored on Golf Groupies, but they're handy to know when someone starts bragging (or collecting) at the turn:

• Albatross: 3 under par on a single hole, like a 2 on a par 5. Also called a double eagle. Rarer than a hole in one.
• Arnie: making par or better without your ball ever touching the fairway. Named for Arnold Palmer, who made a career of thrilling escapes.
• Barkie (or Woodie): making par or better after your ball hits a tree on that hole.
• Condor: 4 under par on a single hole, like a hole in one on a par 5. Only a handful have ever been recorded, so if you make one, the drinks are on you forever.
• Dormie: in match play, being up by exactly as many holes as are left to play, like 2 UP with 2 to play. The side that's dormie can't lose in regulation, only tie at worst. The Match Play scoreboard points it out when it happens.
• Ferret: holing out from off the green with anything other than a putter, like a chip in from the fringe or a pitch from the rough.
• Golden Ferret: the fancier Ferret, holing out straight from a bunker. Rare, glorious, and worth telling everyone about in Match Chat.
• Greenie: on a par 3, the player whose tee shot finishes on the green closest to the pin. Many groups say you only collect if you make par or better.
• Hogan: the textbook hole, played the way Ben Hogan would. Hit the fairway, hit the green in regulation, and make par or better. The opposite of an Arnie.
• Sandie: making par or better on a hole after being in a bunker, usually by getting up and down from a greenside one.
• Seve: making par or better after visiting the trees, the rough and a bunker all on the same hole. Named for Seve Ballesteros, the master of the impossible recovery.

Every group has its own house rules for these, so if money is riding on one, agree the details in Terms / Bet before you tee off.

Sort of. It's simply whoever marks themselves In first for a given day, and a quick welcome pops up on the Match page to walk you through it. The job lasts that one day (every match your group plays that day): agree the format and the bet, sort out Captains and teams, end the match when it's over, or hand the whole thing off to someone else who's In. No term limits needed, it resets every round. You'll spot the Commissioner by the 📣 next to their name. Want to hand the job to someone else who's In? Open Match Details on the Match page and tap the 👑 next to their name in Who's In.

Whoever creates a group is its first Group Manager. Unlike the match roles, it sticks around. Managers share the invite link, add or remove players, make other members Managers, and set the group's defaults (name, home course, time zone, date format, group rules and the starting Match Setup for every new match) from the Settings tab on the Group page. They can also add Guests, set teams and name Captains on the Teams page, and end a match. (The group's short description is the one group detail any member can edit.) In the group switcher, a * after a group's name means you manage it.

Everything about your group as a whole, not one particular match:

• 💬 Group Chat: the group's ongoing conversation. Each match also has its own Match Chat on the Match page. Tap an emoji under any message to react.
• 👥 Players: everyone in the group, with their handicap index pills. Group Managers can add someone who already has an account by username here.
• 📊 Leaderboard: your own record in the group, plus who's winning, ranked by win percentage, with ties broken by rounds played.
• ⚙️ Settings: Group Managers only. Group name, home course, time zone, group rules, the optional Placeholder status and the Default Match Setup every new match starts from.

The short description under the group's name can be changed by anyone in the group, not just Group Managers. Tap the ✎ pencil next to it, type up to 25 words, and tap ✓ to save.

The 🔗 Invite Players To This Group button copies your group's invite link so you can paste it into a text or group chat. Anyone in the group can use it. To start another group of your own, tap + Create New Group.

A Guest is for someone who's actually playing but isn't going to have their own account: no smartphone, missed the invite, just not their thing. The match's Commissioner or a Group Manager can add one by name right from the Teams page (tap + Add a player who won't have a login). They get drafted and show up on the board like anyone else, tagged with a small Guest badge so nobody expects them to log in or chat. Someone else in the match posts their scores for them.

If you know their index, add it right alongside their name. For a plus index, type it as +1.5 or plus 1.5. Don't know it? Leave it blank and they'll show a ? for now. Bringing back a regular? The Guests list at the bottom of the Teams page has a Bring In button, so there's no need to add them twice.

One thing worth knowing: it's a separate account with no login, so it's not for someone who might sign up for real later. For that, just send them the group's Invite link instead. Adding them as a Guest first only means starting over with two disconnected accounts.

No, history stays put. Past matches, scores and chat messages stick around exactly as they happened, since that's the whole point of keeping score. The one thing that changes is they drop off the group's current standings, which only ever reflects who's actively around today.

Chat is for members only. Scores are too, unless someone in the match shares its 👀 watch only link, which lets anyone with the link see that match's live scoreboard (never the chat). Golf Groupies isn't a public feed. If you belong to more than one group, each one's board and history stays separate from the others.

Yes. The Log in page takes either one. Type your username or the email address on your account, then your password.

Happens to the best of us. Use the "Forgot your password?" link on the Log in page and we'll send you a reset link. No need to start a whole new account over it.