Using GolfGenius for Scoring During Tournaments

[Sandy Lie]

So this is gaining traction at our Club.  I think it saves time, but it also may cause problems. We are requiring that a card be used for verification when using Golfgenius initially.  I don’t have enough experiences with it and think it may slow down play. Maybe it won’t. It certainly helps the scorers and results are quicker.  
 

What are your success stories or failures using Golfgenius?

[darthweasel]

NW Golf Guys has gone to using it exclusively and I think it is fantastic. Even before they did I cannot recall the last time I used a scorecard. I tend to use golfpad to keep score and it is pretty easy and quick, much quicker than the gather at the next tee box and discuss score routine I still see a lot of people do.

 

I cannot conceive of circumstances it would slow play as opposed to writing it on scorecard then someone having to adjust...it keeps running, live, accurate totals including handicap pops. No need for someone to manually enter them, trying to decipher the numbers people write on scorecards where there is potential for error. I recall one tournament where we went over the scores, they were correct, signed the card, a couple days later I noticed the official score had me a stroke better than  should be. I reported it (taking myself out of the money in the process) and it turned out they could not tell what a number was, made a decision and it was wrong...GolfGenius removes that. The numbers are clear. Big fan.

[David in FL]

We use it for all of our big tournaments. It’s great. Best feature is the leaderboard, so you can track where you are in relation to the field.  It doesn’t slow anything down at all.

We also maintain an actual scorecard. As always, the scorecard is the prevailing document and must be signed by the player and the marker.

[windlaker]

We love it at our course.

The way we do it is one guy enters it on his phone, another guy enters it on the card.  Helps if there is ever a conflict as well.

All the wagers are marked on the card as well.

Our Men's Club helps pay for the software, since we use it most of the time.

[gbogey]

2 hours ago, David in FL said:

We use it for all of our big tournaments. It’s great. Best feature is the leaderboard, so you can track where you are in relation to the field.  It doesn’t slow anything down at all.

We also maintain an actual scorecard. As always, the scorecard is the prevailing document and must be signed by the player and the marker.

I've been in competitions that do the same. Love having a leaderboard. The physical card is available to avoid any disputes.

[bkuehn1952]

We use Golf Genius but have not used the smart phone app for scorekeeping.  Still using paper and pencil.  Our club might need to advance to the 21st century and consider electronic scoring.

A couple of questions:

Is there a common approach? Does everyone enter their own scores, or everyone serves as an electronic marker for another player, or an individual is selected in each group to perform the input?

If just electronic scoring is used, how does the group perform peer review on what is entered?  Does someone/everyone always check the input after each hole?

Just my observation but if a paper scorecard is done as well as an electronic entry, it is hard to see how it saves time on the course.  It wouldn't necessarily slow things down since there is almost always some dead time between holes. Possibly checking the electronic input against the paper card goes faster but it still needs to be checked.  It sounds like a relatively up to date scoreboard is the big plus. 

[Club Rat]

44 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

Is there a common approach? Does everyone enter their own scores, or everyone serves as an electronic marker for another player, or an individual is selected in each group to perform the input?

Only One player needs to enter scores.

 

45 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

Our club might need to advance to the 21st century and consider electronic scoring.

Same here.

 

6 hours ago, Sandy Lie said:

What are your success stories or failures using Golfgenius?

There are a few drawbacks for events.
A. The event must be "Pre-empted" with players, tee times, event format.
B. Players must use a "Code" to authorize using the App.
C. Scores must be manually entered into the field application "IF" the club does not pay for the upgrade "Live Application"
D. Any last minute field/players added or changed create a nightmare for the staff.
E. Annual Fee Required for using the application, pricey IMO. 

Success - Live features are enjoyed by players.
Results can be updated in a timely manner.
Many formats written to software IE: Skins, BB, Match Play, etc.
Also has a great feature for printing scorecards for events with strokes indicated with dots on holes.
It's a great platform, equal to other applications available.

I designed my own Scoring App and had a freelance developer write the application for IOS and Droids.
Our Mens Game Admin $$ will eventually pay for the application, while many member donated $$ to cover the upfront cost.   
So the cost is One and Done = to one years fees by other applications.
My ability to write formats for any and all games along with daily handicap reports is equal to other applications.
Our Members have been using Live Scoring for 3 months and for the most part only a few have hiccups understanding the simplicity.
I have dealt with common user errors during the "learning curve" long before Mobile Apps were available.
15 years ago we used PDA's to record scores and upload groups to Excel Games.
Due to Covid the General Manager explicitly made a ruling "No Cash Exchange" and forced my hand to implement Electronic Payments 
which I have been intending to orchestrate for a couple of years. Talk about Mass Confusion !!!
I honestly don't know how some Men get by in this digital age... LOL