Run a tournament
Create the event, add groups, manage the tee sheet, follow live standings, and publish results to spectators.
1. Create the event
- Open the app hamburger menu, choose Tournaments, and tap + New.
- Enter the tournament Name and Date.
- Choose a course from Search StakeMarkerDB, or enter the course name and each hole's Par / Stroke Index manually. Optionally enter Slope / Rating for the Course Handicap helper.
- Choose the Handicap treatment: Gross, Play Off Low, or Raw Handicap. Then select any combination of event formats: Stroke Play, Stableford, and/or Skins. Each selected game becomes its own field board; Skins exposes the normal per-hole / whole-round buy-in options in Game setup. To add another built-in format later, open Edit Tournament and select it in this same section.
- Tap Save Tournament.
2. Add groups and set the tee sheet
Open the tournament and choose Groups & Tee Sheet. Tap + Add Group, enter a group name, choose 1–8 players, enter the roster, and tap Create Group Round. Each group is a linked StakeMarker round, so players score in the familiar scorecard while the tournament page combines the results.
- Set a tee time and starting hole for each group in Tee Sheet.
- Use Shotgun Start to assign holes 1–18 across the day's groups.
- When a game uses teams or pairing groups, open Game settings, choose the competition to configure, then tap two players together or choose Randomize teams. The same panel exposes that board's own dollar values, payout percentages, press switches, per-hole Skins overrides, and other game options.
- For a multi-day event, use + Start Day 2 and the day controls to create the next day's pairings.
3. Use the tournament tabs
- Leaderboard: see the Overall standings and a board for each enabled tournament-wide game. Use day and Gross/Net controls when available, then Refresh, Export CSV, or Print.
- Players & Flights: review registered players, apply course handicaps, mark players Withdrawn or Disqualified, and create flights/divisions that partition the Overall board.
- Groups & Tee Sheet: add groups, start another day, and update tee times or starting holes.
- Game settings: manage the saved game plan, add or remove built-in games, and configure each selected game's teams, pairings, buy-ins, and other setup options.
4. Share updates and manage the event
- Announcements & Sharing: post updates such as weather delays. Enable a Public Spectator Link for a read-only leaderboard with no sign-in required. Copy the link, show its QR code, open TV Mode, or disable/regenerate it later.
- Admin: add co-admins, control the primary leaderboard display, and review the Activity Log.
- Finalize: use Finalize when results are official. If a correction is needed later, an admin can use Reopen, make the change, and finalize again.
5. Build tournament games
Open the tournament's Game settings tab and choose Manage game plan to edit its pinned game plan. Every competition has a complete set of rules, so the same scoring engine handles field, group, and scheduled-match competitions.
Manage the saved plan separately from authoring: the plan panel shows every selected game and lets an admin add or remove built-in boards, including Stroke Play when another board remains. Use the separate custom-game builder to describe a new game or revise a saved board in plain English. The authoring flow can ask a clarification question when the scoring scope, participants, setup inputs, or presentation is ambiguous. Review the generated rules before saving them; the saved plan is versioned and compiled before it can run.
For team and match competitions, the bindings editor supplies the data the rules explicitly request:
- Assign roster players to the teams required by the game.
- For scheduled matches, choose the participants without relying on implicit sides or bracket numbers.
- Enter any explicit game setup details, such as a bracket value, team choice, or role selection.
You do not need to write a formula or JSON. If a rule cannot be represented by the current rules engine, the authoring flow should say what capability is missing instead of silently approximating the game.
Important rules and troubleshooting
- Set the course first: course setup is locked after the first group is created. After that, use the Game settings tab to manage the saved games and any setup that remains editable. Existing rounds keep their pinned versions.
- Game scope: every saved competition has a complete rules definition and declares whether it runs across the field, per round group, or as explicit scheduled matches. Bindings and setup details are entered only when that game requires them.
- Game plan: every saved competition is pinned to the tournament with its rules and revision. A failed compile or an unanswered clarification prevents the competition from being saved; unsupported rules are reported instead of approximated.
- Missing access: make sure you are signed in as the tournament owner or an admin and that your plan includes tournament management.