Help & How-To
Everything you need to run your golf, the easy way
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New to FairwayLeague, or just stuck on one thing? The quick answers are below — tap a question to open it. Can't find what you need? Email us and we'll sort it.

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🚀 Getting started

What is FairwayLeague?

It's the app that runs your golf society without the spreadsheet. Live leaderboards, automatic handicaps, and league tables that sort themselves — whether you're playing a weekly roll-up, a knockout, a charity day or a season-long Order of Merit. Set up a competition in under a minute and let the app keep the score.

Do my mates need the app to play?

No. Guests play free — no app, no account needed. When you're scoring for a group (see below), you can add guests by name and score them alongside everyone else. Only the person running the card needs to be signed in.

On a bigger day you can even let everyone score their own card from a QR code — no app, no login (see “Can my players score themselves on their own phones?” below).

If a mate wants their own scores to count towards a league table over time, that's when they'll want to sign up — it's free too.

How do people join my league?
  1. Open your league and tap Share 🔗.
  2. Send the link to your group (WhatsApp, text, wherever).
  3. They tap it, and they're in — or they can type the invite code in the app.

As the owner you can also invite friends and people from your other leagues directly, and they join with one tap.

⛳ Playing & scoring

How do I start a round and score live?
  1. Tap Play in the middle of the bottom bar.
  2. Pick your course (your home course is pre-selected).
  3. Tap ⛳ Start live round.
  4. Enter your score on each hole as you play — the leaderboard updates as scores come in.

GPS distances to the front, centre and back of the green are shown for each hole as you go.

How do I score for my whole fourball?

Use marker mode — one person keeps the card for the whole group.

  1. On the Play tab, tap 👥 Score for group.
  2. Add your playing partners — pick members from your league, or add guests by name (no account needed).
  3. Each player is scored off their own tee and handicap automatically.
  4. Enter everyone's score, hole by hole, from the one card.

Everyone's round is saved to their own record, and it feeds any leagues the round is linked to.

Can my players score themselves on their own phones?

Yes — ideal for a bigger field when you don't want to key in every card. Your players scan a code and score their own round, no app and no login.

You set it up once:

  1. Add your field first — ⚙️ Manage → 👤 Day guests (or Guest players on a trip). Everyone picks their name from this list.
  2. Open your event and tap ⚙️ Manage → 📱 Let players score themselves.
  3. Share the QR code or link with the group — print it for the first tee, or drop it in the chat.

Each player just:

  1. Scans the code (or taps the link) — nothing to download, no sign-in.
  2. Taps their name.
  3. Scores hole by hole on their own phone — shots worked out automatically, exactly like the full app.

Every score lands on your live leaderboard as they play.

A player can close the link and come back any time — they're dropped straight back on their card at the next hole, with their scores intact. It even carries over if they switch phones.

How do I load a scorecard for a round I've already played?

Two ways, both on the Play tab:

  1. Photo: tap 📷 Upload completed scorecard, take or choose a picture of your finished paper card, and the app reads the hole scores for you. Check them, then confirm.
  2. Type it in: start a normal round and tap the scores in hole by hole. In a tournament, use the 📝 Enter button to key scores straight into the grid.
Can I fix a score after I've entered it?

Yes. Tap the round to open it and edit the holes — you can correct scores for up to 48 hours after the round. After that, to protect league standings, email us and we'll make the change.

There's no cap on a single hole — a blow-up hole can go to double figures. For Stableford, a wipe just scores 0 on that hole, so it never drags your whole card down.

Can I track my fairways, greens and putts?

Yes — on your own round (a solo round, or a league round you're scoring yourself). It's optional and never affects your score, handicap or the league — they're purely your own stats.

While you play:

  1. On the play screen, turn the 📊 Track my stats toggle On.
  2. On each hole, tap Fairway (✓ hit / ✗ missed), Green in regulation, and set your putts. Par 3s have no fairway, so that's skipped.

Played in a group? When someone else is marking the card you can't tap your own stats as you go — so add them afterwards: open that round's scorecard and tap 📊 Add my stats. Your scores stay exactly as they were.

Where to see them:

  • On the scorecard — a tick / cross per hole plus a round summary.
  • On your profile — your overall Fairways %, Greens % and average putts per round under My playing stats, across every round you've tracked.

To share them, open a round's scorecard, tap 📤 Share and choose the Stats card — a clean image with your fairways, greens, putts and the hole-by-hole breakdown.

Does live scoring drain my battery or data?

No — the app is built for a day on the course. The leaderboard doesn't poll in the background; it refreshes when you tap Update, so it isn't hammering your battery or signal while you play. Scores you enter are saved even if you briefly lose signal, and sync when you're back online.

🎯 Handicaps

How do I update my handicap?
  1. Go to the Profile tab (bottom-right).
  2. Under WHS Handicap Index, type your new index (e.g. 18.2, or -2 for a plus handicap).
  3. Tap Update handicap.

Your handicap is locked in when a round starts, so updating it changes your next round — it won't retro-change a round you've already started or finished.

How are course handicaps and shots worked out?

Automatically, using the proper World Handicap System maths. From your handicap index and the tee you're playing, the app works out your course handicap — roughly your index adjusted for how hard that course and tee play (its slope and rating) — and then where your shots fall hole by hole.

Enter a player's index once and everything else is handled: men off White or Yellow, ladies off Red, mixed fourballs — each player scored off their own tee.

📍 Courses

What if my home course or the course I'm playing isn't listed?

Three things to try, in order:

  1. On the Play tab's course picker, tap 🔍 Search for another UK course… — that looks in a much larger course database and pulls it in.
  2. Playing abroad or somewhere that still isn't there? Set the trip or event up as score-only — you just enter your total each round, no course or GPS needed.
  3. Still stuck? Request the course and we'll add it — new courses go in on request.

🏆 Leagues, trips & formats

League, tournament, knockout — which do I pick?
  • Season league — an ongoing table over many rounds (your weekly roll-up or Order of Merit). Best scores count towards the standings all season.
  • One-day event / tournament — a single day's competition with its own leaderboard. Great for an outing, a charity day or a one-off.
  • Knockout — everyone's drawn into groups, plays everyone in their group (match play), and the group winners go into a bracket through to a champion.
  • Trip — several rounds over a few days, all rolling into one overall table (see the next question).

The create wizard walks you through it — pick the shape and the app sets up the rest.

What's the best format for a trip?

For a multi-round away trip, the go-to is individual Stableford, rolled into an overall Order of Merit across all the rounds. It's the fairest and keeps everyone competing to the last day:

  • Handicap-fair — mixed abilities all compete, so the 24-handicapper can still win the trip.
  • Blow-up-proof — a wipe just scores 0 on that hole, so one bad hole doesn't ruin your weekend (and it keeps play moving).
  • Alive to the end — every round feeds one running trip table, so it isn't settled on day one.

Set it up: create a Trip, choose Stableford, and each round feeds the one table. Abroad? Make it score-only and enter totals.

Mix it up: run an extra format alongside for variety — a Ryder Cup (team match play) day if it's two teams, or a betterball fourballs day — while the Stableford Order of Merit crowns the overall trip champion.

Stableford, nett or scratch — what's the difference?
  • Stableford — points per hole against your handicap. A blow-up hole can't wreck your day. The friendliest, most popular choice.
  • Nett — your total strokes minus your handicap. Lowest wins.
  • Scratch (gross) — raw strokes, no handicap. For the brave.

You choose per competition, and the app does the maths.

📤 Sharing results

How do I share a leaderboard or scorecard?

Look for the share button on a league table, a finished round or a scorecard. It builds a clean, good-looking card you can drop straight into the group chat — no screenshots of spreadsheets needed.

On a round's scorecard, 📤 Share lets you pick a score card (your points total) or — if you tracked them — a stats card showing your fairways, greens and putts.

⛳ Open FairwayLeague