Scheduling FAQ

Common questions about creating pairings and managing tee times.

Pairing Strategies

Which pairing strategy should I use?

It depends on your event type:

What is ABCD pairing?

ABCD divides players into four skill tiers (quartiles) by handicap. Each group receives one player from each tier:

• A: Low handicap (most skilled)
• B: Lower-mid handicap
• C: Upper-mid handicap
• D: High handicap (least skilled)

This creates competitively balanced groups ideal for team events.

How does “By Previous Results” work?

The system looks at scores from a completed round and groups players by performance:

• Leaders Last: Best scores play last (traditional tournament style)
• Leaders First: Best scores play first
• Reverse Horseshoe: Middle scorers first, leaders and trailers last (for two-tee starts)

What’s the difference between Balanced and ABCD?

Balanced uses snake-draft ordering to create groups with similar total handicaps but doesn’t guarantee skill distribution within groups.

ABCD guarantees one player from each skill tier in every group, ensuring internal group diversity.

Tee Times

How do I set up a shotgun start?

1. Create your pairings using any strategy
2. Click Bulk Assign Tee Times
3. Select Tee Start Type: Shotgun
4. Enter your start time (e.g., 12:00 PM)
5. Choose your Shotgun Priority setting
6. Click Apply

All groups will start at the same time from different holes.

What is a two-tee start?

A two-tee start splits your field between Hole 1 and Hole 10. Half your groups start from the first tee, half from the tenth. This reduces total event time by roughly 50%.

What tee time interval should I use?

When in doubt, use 10 minutes. It’s the industry standard.

I have more than 18 groups. Can I still do a shotgun?

Yes. Enable Allow Doubles to place two groups per hole. The second group (Position B) starts when the first group clears the tee. With doubles, you can accommodate up to 36 groups.

How do I handle odd numbers of players?

The system automatically creates smaller groups when players don’t divide evenly. For example, with 30 players in foursomes:

• 6 groups of 4 players
• 2 groups of 3 players

Smaller groups are placed at the end of the tee sheet by default.

Scheduling Rules

Can I keep specific players together?

Yes. Create a Keep Together rule:

1. Go to Scheduling Rules
2. Click Add Rule
3. Select Keep Together
4. Choose the players
5. Set a priority (1-10)

When you run auto-pair, these players will be grouped together.

Can I keep specific players apart?

Yes. Create a Keep Apart rule following the same process but selecting Keep Apart as the rule type.

What happens if my rules conflict?

Rules are resolved by priority. Higher priority (closer to 10) wins. If you need Alice and Bob together (Priority 8) but Bob and Carol apart (Priority 5), Alice and Bob will be grouped; Carol will be elsewhere.

Do scheduling rules work with all pairing strategies?

Yes. Rules are applied after the initial grouping, regardless of strategy. The system will adjust pairings to satisfy rules while maintaining the strategy’s intent.

Making Changes

How do I swap two players after pairings are created?

1. Go to your round’s pairings view
2. Click Swap Players
3. Select the first player
4. Select the second player
5. Confirm the swap

Both players exchange groups and positions.

Can I move a player without swapping?

Yes. Use Move Player:

1. Select the player
2. Select the target group
3. Confirm

The player moves; their old slot becomes empty.

How do I add a player who registered late?

1. Go to Edit Pairings
2. Find a group with an open slot, or create a new group
3. Click Add Player
4. Select the player from your roster
5. Save

Can I delete all pairings and start over?

Yes, but only if no scores have been entered. Go to Pairings and click Delete All Pairings.

Multi-Round Events

How do I keep the same groups for multiple rounds?

Use Multi-Round Pairings:

1. Go to Event > Multi-Round Pairings
2. Select all rounds
3. Enable Consistent Pairings
4. Generate

Players stay with the same group throughout.

How do I make sure players meet different people each round?

Enable Rotate Pairings instead of Consistent Pairings. The system maximizes player diversity across rounds.

How do I copy pairings from one round to another?

1. Go to the target round
2. Click Copy Pairings
3. Select the source round
4. Configure options (tee times, starting holes, offsets)
5. Apply

What is fairness optimization?

For multi-round events, fairness optimization balances:

• Early vs. late tee times per player
• Front nine vs. back nine starts

Enable it when generating multi-round pairings to ensure no player consistently gets unfavorable times.

How do I view fairness metrics?

Go to Event > Fairness Metrics to see per-player statistics including early/late counts, front/back starts, and overall fairness scores.

Wave and Multi-Course Events

What is wave scheduling?

Wave scheduling divides your field into groups based on:

• Course assignment (for multi-course events)
• Time session (AM/PM)
• Starting tee (Front 9/Back 9)

Use it for large events spanning multiple courses or requiring multiple start waves.

How do second round swaps work?

Second round swaps automatically adjust assignments for day 2:

• Swap Courses: Players play a different course
• Swap Starting Tees: Hole 1 becomes Hole 10
• Swap AM/PM: Morning becomes afternoon
• Reverse Group Order: Last group goes first

This ensures fairness when certain courses or times offer advantages.

Round Robin

What is round robin scheduling?

Round robin creates a schedule where every team or player faces every other team or player exactly once across multiple rounds.

How many rounds do I need?

For N teams or players:

• Even number: N-1 rounds
• Odd number: N rounds (one bye per round)

Example: 8 teams need 7 rounds for everyone to play everyone.

Can I do round robin within flights?

Yes. Enable Flight Based round robin and select your flights. Each flight runs its own complete round robin.

What seeding options are available?

Open Tee Times

What are open tee times?

Open tee times let players book their own slots instead of being assigned by the administrator. Players visit the registration page and select from available times.

How do I enable open tee times?

1. Go to round settings
2. Click Configure Open Tee Times
3. Set first and last tee times
4. Set interval and max players per slot
5. Enable Allow Self-Booking
6. Save

Can I block certain times?

Yes. Add times to the Blocked Times list. These slots won’t appear as available to players.

Can I override player bookings?

Yes. Administrators can modify or cancel any booking through the admin dashboard.

Troubleshooting

My pairings don’t respect my scheduling rules

Check rule priorities. Lower-priority rules may be overridden by higher-priority ones. Also verify the rule is active and includes the correct player IDs.

I can’t delete pairings

Pairings cannot be deleted once scores have been entered. Clear scores first, or contact support if you need to reset a round.

The shotgun assignments look wrong

Check your Shotgun Priority setting:

• Fill from One assigns sequentially (1, 2, 3…)
• Balanced distributes evenly
• Priority Holes uses your specified order

Also verify you haven’t exceeded 18 groups (or 36 with doubles enabled).

Players are missing from pairings

Verify players are:

1. Registered for the event
2. Marked as attending/confirmed
3. Not already assigned to another group in this round

Tee times aren’t applying correctly

Check that:

1. Groups exist before assigning tee times
2. The first tee time is in HH:mm format (e.g., “08:00”)
3. The interval is reasonable (5-30 minutes)

The fairness metrics look unbalanced

Fairness optimization works best when:

1. Enabled before generating pairings
2. Applied across 3+ rounds
3. Players participate in all rounds

Manual adjustments after generation may reduce fairness scores.

Best Practices

Before the Event

1. Add all players to the roster before creating pairings
2. Set up scheduling rules (keep together/apart) before auto-pairing
3. Review and adjust pairings before publishing
4. Communicate tee times to players well in advance

During the Event

1. Lock pairings before rounds begin
2. Use swap operations for last-minute changes
3. Avoid changes once scoring starts (affects GGIDs)

For Multi-Round Events

1. Enable fairness optimization
2. Use consistent pairings if groups are important
3. Use rotating pairings if variety is important
4. Check fairness metrics between rounds

Need More Help?

• Scheduling Guide - Detailed step-by-step instructions
• Scheduling Features - Complete feature overview
• Contact Support - Reach our support team