Getting started
What is GetFairways?

GetFairways is a web-based golf tournament management platform designed for club admins and league organizers. It handles online registration, Stripe payments, flight pairings, live scoring, leaderboards, and print-ready outputs — all in one place, from any device.

Do players need to download an app?

No. GetFairways runs entirely in the browser. Players register, enter scores, and follow the live leaderboard from any phone or device — no app download required. Just share a link.

How does the free trial work?

Your first 7 days are completely free with full access to every feature — no credit card required. Just enter your email to get started. Stripe sends a reminder email 3 days before the trial ends. You can add a payment method anytime from your Settings page, or cancel with one click before day 7.

How much does GetFairways cost after the trial?

$599 per year, billed annually. That includes unlimited tournaments, unlimited players, all features, and priority support. No per-player fees, no hidden charges. A single-event pass is also available for $99 if you only need to run one tournament.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Go to Settings in your GetFairways account. For trial users, click "Cancel trial" — a confirmation dialog will appear and your trial is canceled immediately. For annual subscribers, click "Cancel subscription" to cancel through Stripe. Your access continues until the end of the current billing period. You can also manage billing details by clicking "Update billing info" which opens the Stripe billing portal.

Payments & fees
Does GetFairways take a cut of entry fees?

Not a single dime. Entry fees go directly to your connected Stripe account. GetFairways charges no platform fee on player payments — you keep 100% of what players pay (minus Stripe's standard processing fee of ~2.9% + 30¢).

How does online player registration work?

You set an entry fee and enable registration in Setup. GetFairways generates a shareable link (e.g. getfairways.com/register/your-slug). Players open the link, fill in their name, email, phone, and handicap, then pay via Stripe or opt to pay in person. New registrations appear in real time on your Admin tab.

Course setup & selection
How do I set up a course in GetFairways?

In the Setup view, type your course name into the Course field. GetFairways searches a database of thousands of courses — if yours appears, select it and the name and location fill in automatically.

If your course isn't in the search results, select "Add manually" and enter the details yourself. Either way, your course record is saved privately to your account so you never have to re-enter it for future tournaments.

Will the hole pars auto-populate when I select a course?

Yes — if you've used that course before. The first time you use a course, you fill in the hole pars manually using the course card editor in Setup (the +/− buttons for each hole). When you click "Save par/slope/rating to course record," those values are stored permanently.

Every subsequent tournament at that course, the pars, slope, and rating pre-fill automatically the moment you select it. You just verify and move on — no re-entry needed.

What if I enter the wrong par for a hole?

Easy to fix. Go to Setup, select your tournament, and use the course card editor to correct the hole. Then click "Save par/slope/rating to course record" to update it permanently.

Important: fixing the course record only affects future tournaments. Past tournaments are not changed — scores were calculated against the pars that were active at the time, so historical data stays accurate.

Can one admin manage multiple courses?

Yes — there's no limit. An annual subscriber can create tournaments at as many different courses as they want. Each course is saved as a separate record in your account. A league admin running events at five different courses would build out all five records over time, each pre-filling automatically on future visits.

Is my course data private or shared with other users?

Private by default. Every course record you create belongs to your account only — other GetFairways users cannot see or modify it.

If you'd like to share your course data with the GetFairways community (so other organizers at the same course benefit), you can toggle "Share this course data" in the green pinning panel. Sharing is always opt-in. GetFairways may also manually verify and publish course records to make them available as a trusted shared resource.

What if two organizers create the same course separately?

GetFairways uses slug-based deduplication to prevent duplicate records within the same account. When searching for a course, verified and shared records appear at the top of results — so if a trusted version already exists, most admins will naturally pick it rather than create a new one.

If duplicates do appear over time, GetFairways's admin team can merge and verify records to keep the shared database clean.

GPS Rangefinder
What is the GPS rangefinder?

The rangefinder is a live yardage display built into GetFairways's Scoring view. While a player is on the course, their phone's GPS calculates the distance to the center of the current hole's green in real time — showing front, center, and back yardage, updated as they move.

It works on any phone with a browser — no extra app or device required. Distances are available in yards or metres.

How do I set up the rangefinder for my course?

The rangefinder requires green GPS coordinates to be saved for each hole. Here's the one-time setup process:

  1. In Setup, select your course from the Course search field
  2. Click "Pin greens" to open the green coordinate panel
  3. For each hole, either use live GPS (walk to the center of the green on the course and tap "Use this location") or enter coordinates manually from Google Maps at home
  4. Coordinates save automatically as you pin each hole

Once pinned, those coordinates are saved permanently to your course record. Every future tournament at that course has the rangefinder ready from the start — no re-setup required.

How do I get green coordinates from Google Maps?

This is the easiest way to pin greens without visiting the course:

  1. Open Google Maps and search for your golf course
  2. Switch to Satellite view
  3. Zoom into the first green until you can clearly see the putting surface
  4. Right-click the center of the green
  5. Click the coordinates shown at the top of the popup menu to copy them
  6. Paste the latitude and longitude into the Manual Green Coordinates fields in GetFairways
  7. Click "Save manual coordinates"
  8. Repeat for each hole

This takes about 5–10 minutes for a full 18-hole course and only needs to be done once.

What if a green coordinate is wrong?

Re-pinning a hole overwrites the old coordinate immediately. Go to Setup → select your course → click "Pin greens" → tap the hole you want to fix → either use live GPS on the course or enter new manual coordinates → save.

Because green coordinates only affect the rangefinder display (not scoring or handicaps), a wrong coordinate just means a slightly inaccurate distance reading until you fix it — it has no impact on tournament results or historical data.

Do all 18 holes need to be pinned for the rangefinder to work?

No — the rangefinder works for any hole that has been pinned, even if others haven't been set up yet. For unset holes, the rangefinder shows a "green not pinned yet" message and prompts you to add coordinates in Setup. You can pin holes incrementally over time.

Who can use the rangefinder — just the admin or all players?

Both. Any player accessing the Scoring view via the tournament's invite link sees the same rangefinder on their phone as the admin. As long as the course has green coordinates pinned, every player gets live yardages for free — no extra setup needed per player.

Does the rangefinder work without cell service on the course?

Partially. GPS distance calculation happens on the device itself, so the distance display works even without cell service as long as the course data was loaded before going offline. However, score saving and the live leaderboard require a connection. We recommend loading the Scoring view before heading to a low-signal area to cache the course data.

How accurate is the GPS rangefinder?

Accuracy depends on the device's GPS hardware, typically within 3–10 metres on a modern smartphone with a clear sky view. This translates to roughly ±3–10 yards of distance variation, which is consistent with consumer-grade GPS rangefinder devices. For best accuracy, ensure Location is set to "High accuracy" mode in your phone's settings and allow a few seconds for the GPS to acquire a stable fix.

Scoring & handicaps
What handicap system does GetFairways use?

GetFairways uses USGA course handicap calculation: (Handicap Index × Slope ÷ 113) + (Course Rating − Par). Each player's playing handicap is calculated automatically, and strokes are allocated per hole based on the stroke index you set on the course card.

Can I run recurring weekly leagues?

Yes. Enable "Recurring League" in Setup to activate smart pairing mode. GetFairways tracks pairing history week over week and uses it to minimize repeat pairings — players get a fresh draw each week. You can also lock specific flights to keep certain groups together.

Can I import players from a spreadsheet?

Yes. On the Register tab, click "Import CSV / Excel" to upload a file. GetFairways accepts .csv, .xlsx, and .xls files and auto-detects columns for name, email, phone, and handicap — with or without a header row.

What is a flight scorer?

A flight scorer is one person designated to enter scores for all players in their flight. On the Flights tab, each flight card has a "Scorer" dropdown — select any player in that flight to make them the official scorekeeper. When you send them their scoring link, they open it on their phone and see all players in the flight. They enter scores hole by hole, and the leaderboard updates in real time. Flight scorers are assigned per event, so you can rotate who keeps score each week in a recurring league.

What is a team captain?

A team captain is the designated contact and scorer for their team. On the Teams tab, tap the ⭐ button next to a player to make them captain. Captains serve two purposes: they appear first in the RSVP list (use the "Captains only" filter to text just one person per team), and they receive a personal scoring link to enter scores for their team. In Best Ball or Scramble formats, each captain enters their team's score rather than having every player enter individually.

Can I delegate admin access to someone else?

Yes. On the Admin tab, use the "Admin delegation" section to invite a co-admin by email. They'll receive an email with instructions to access your GetFairways account. You'll need to share your password with them directly — they log in with your credentials and have full access to all your tournaments and leagues. This is useful for having a helper on tournament day, a co-organizer for a league, or a backup admin when you're unavailable.

Do my changes save automatically?

Yes. Tournament setup changes (name, course, date, format, entry fee, etc.) auto-save 2 seconds after you stop typing. Team assignments, flight pairings, and scores also save automatically. This means you can set up a tournament on your laptop and immediately see the same data on your phone — no manual save button required. The first time you create a tournament, you do need to click "Save & continue" to create the initial record.

Other features
What can I print from GetFairways?

GetFairways generates print-ready scorecards (2 per sheet), tee sheets, cart signs, bag tags, and a final leaderboard — all formatted and ready to hand out on tournament day with one click from the Print tab.

Does GetFairways work on mobile?

Yes — GetFairways is fully responsive and designed to work seamlessly on phones. Players enter scores, follow the live leaderboard, and register from their phone. Admins can manage the full tournament from mobile as well.

What is RSVP?

Before each event, you can contact your registered players to confirm attendance:

  1. Go to the Admin tab in your tournament
  2. Click "Send RSVP" — on mobile it opens your Messages app with all players' numbers pre-filled; on desktop it opens your email client with players in BCC
  3. Customize the message (tournament name, date, tee time, and registration link are pre-populated)
  4. Hit send — players reply directly to your phone or email

For recurring leagues, the RSVP message automatically includes the next event date and tee time. Players can reply Y or N, or click the included link to view event details.

Is my data secure?

Yes. All data is stored in Supabase with Row Level Security (RLS) enabled on every table — your tournament data is only accessible to you. Payments are processed by Stripe — GetFairways never stores card details. All connections are encrypted via HTTPS.

Can I have multiple tournaments?

Yes — your subscription covers unlimited tournaments. Use the tournament picker in the top nav to switch between events. Past tournaments are archived and always accessible.

Ready to run a better tournament?

Your first 7 days are free. No commitment, cancel anytime.

Start free trial →