Fringe Golfers Help Page

General Information
  • Typical steps to create a new golf league are as follows (further details on these steps can be found within the later sections of this help page):
    1. Fill out the Create New Golf League page, which includes basic information such as league name, description and location.
    2. Add league members by clicking the   Manage League Members  button for your league on the Manage Golf Leagues page.
    3. Create a new season by clicking the   Manage League Seasons  button for your league on the Manage Golf Leagues page.
    4. Define the dates/locations that your league will play during this season by clicking the   Manage Season Schedule  button for your season on the Manage League Seasons page.
      • You may need to add courses not yet in the Fringe Golfers system using the Manage Golf Courses link in the left side navigation.
    5. Define which league members will actively participate in this season by clicking the   Manage Season Members  button for your season on the Manage League Seasons page.
    6. Optionally define teams by clicking the 'Team Assignments' button on the Manage League Season Members page.
    7. Optionally add past player scores from outside the league so that a default handicap is calculated. This is done by clicking the   Manage Member External Scores  button on the Manage League Members page for each member.
  • Data tables often have an expand button in the far left column to reveal buttons to take actions on the row or to navigate to additional pages.
  • Data tables can be sorted by clicking the column headers.
  • If you have questions or feature requests follow the Contact link at the bottom of our homepage.

Mobile App

FringeGolfers.com is always accessible via web browser, and will display nicely on devices of any size. But if you're looking for a more app-like experience, it's likely that FringeGolfers can be installed as a separate app on your mobile device as well. You won't find us in the app store, however, you'll need to add us to your homescreen via your web browser. Instructions vary by device type, see below for some common instructions.

  • Android: Access fringegolfers.com using Chrome Browser. On most versions of android you'll be prompted to add to you homescreen, simply click 'add' and follow the prompts. If you've previously declined to add, or do not get prompted, you can still add it manually by selecting Chrome's menu options, then choose 'Add to Home screen'. Follow the remaining prompts to complete installation.
  • iOS: Access fringegolfers.com using the Safari Browser. Tap the browser's share button, then select 'Add to Homescreen'. Follow the remaining prompts to complete installation.
  • Other: For other devices you can often use Chrome Browser, following similar steps as described above for Android. For more specific instructions, try searching google for "PWA add to home screen <your device type>".

Managing Golf Leagues

The Manage Golf Leagues page displays all leagues for which you are the administrator. Important things to know about Manage Golf Leagues page:

  • All editing actions are accessed by clicking the expand button for the league you wish to edit.
  • The League Info selection allows you to edit the city, state, and name of the league. It also allows you to identify whether your league is accepting new members.
  • Your other options are to Manage League Seasons and to Manage League Members
  • Be careful with the delete league option as this action is permanent.

Managing Golf Courses

The Manage Golf Courses page provides the capability to add or edit golf courses available in the system. Important things to know about Manage Golf Courses page:

  • Select your location in the upper right of the page to see courses already in the system for your area.
  • If your location is not in the list, or your course does not appear in the list of courses for your area, you can add your course by clicking the 'Add a New Course' button at the top.
  • If your course is present in the list, click the '+' button to see options:
    • Click 'Edit Course Info' to edit information such as the course's Name, Address, Phone, etc.
    • Click 'Edit tee name Tee' to edit the hole information for the given tee.
    • Click 'Add Tee' to add another tee that is not yet defined for this course
  • Golf courses are shared between all leagues. Once one league administrator adds it to the system, it is available for all leagues to use. For any information you add or edit, please be courteous to other leagues by following these guidelines:
    • Enter information exactly as on the course's scorecard. If entering non-standard data that is customized for your league, please name the course or tee to indicate this. For example, use names like "Sample League Pebble Beach" golf course, or "Sample League White" tees.
    • If a course makes significant changes to their scorecard - such as reversing nines, changing hole par values, or re-ranking the hole handicaps - updating the existing course data will impact previously recorded rounds on this course. Rather than updating, it is better to leave the existing data intact and add a new course or new tees for the new layout. The existing course or tee names can be annotated with "OLD" or other indicator to specify they are no longer current, allowing the replacements to be added with the proper names.
  • We do not allow changes to some key fields like names of tees or nines after creation. This is to minimize impacts to other leagues that might also be playing this course. FringeGolfers support can manually update these items in our database directly when needed. Please follow the "Contact" link at the bottom of the page and we can help. You'll need to let us know the Course Name and Location, as well as the problem that needs to be fixed.

Managing League Seasons

The Manage League Seasons page displays all the seasons on record for your league. Important things to know about the Manage League Seasons Page:


Managing League Members

The Manage League Members page displays all the members of your league. Important things to know about the Manage League Members Page:

  • League members can be added via the 'Add a New Member' button at the top. A league member must have a first and last name. The e-mail address is optional, however, if not provided the member will not be able to login or receive notifications.
  • Notifying new members of league membership:
    • In general, we will no longer send automated league membership notification emails when you add a player to your league. Instead you will have to reach out to your players to let them know. The one exception is for a player that already has an account in our system and has verified their email address. In that case, we'll send them a membership notification email.
    • To simplify the task of notifying your players, each league will have a single default password used for all new player accounts. The default password is displayed on the Manage League Members page for reference. When your players log in for the first time, they will be forced to change their password.
    • The Manage League Members table includes "Logged In / Verified Email" column which indicates whether each player has initially logged into the system, as well as whether they've verified their email address.
    • The   Notify All New Members  button will open a pre-composed email in your local email client addressed to all players that cannot receive automated emails (i.e. any that have either not logged in or have not verified their email address).
    • Within the Manage League Members table, for each player that cannot receive automated emails, there is a   Notify Member  button that will open a pre-composed email addressed only to this one player.
  • League members can be made active or inactive by season on the Manage Season Members page. Only active members will appear on the leaderboard and statistics pages for a given season.
  • Clicking on the   Edit League Member Profile  button will allow you to correct any information in the member's information. This option is available until the member logs into their account for the first time. After that only they can change this information on their My Profile page.
  • Clicking on the   Manage Member External Scores  button will navigate to the Manage Member External Scores page, which can be used to generate a default handicap for the player. More info here.
  • Clicking on the   Toggle Admin Access  button can be used to grant/deny league administrator privileges to other members of your league.
  • Clicking on the   Revoke League Access  button for any member's row will remove their ability to access the league. This is the recommended way to remove a former player from the league because their scoring data will be retained. If you instead perform a 'Delete League Member' action, that will remove the player completely, including their scoring history, potentially impacting league results in prior seasons. Items to keep in mind:
    • The revoked player's account with FringeGolfers.com will remain, it will just no longer be associated with this league.
    • The revoked player will still appear on your league roster, and you can even still include them in future seasons (if desired for subbing, etc). The player will just not be able to access this league and will not receive announcements from this league.
    • The revoked player's league access can be restored by clicking 'Edit League Member Profile' and re-adding their email address.
  • Clicking on the   Delete League Member  button for any member's row will allow you to permanently remove that member from your league. Be aware that this option removes all of their scoring history, potentially impacting league results in prior seasons. This action cannot be reversed.

Managing Member External Scores

FringeGolfers requires a configurable number rounds to be played before a player's handicap can be calculated. By default 3 rounds are required, however, this can be overridden in the season's handicap settings if desired. A player will not be ranked on the leaderboard until after their net scores can be calculated using this handicap. The Manage Member External Scores Page provides a way for the league administrator to enter round scores that the player may have saved from outside the league. These outside scores are then used to calculate the player's handicap immediately, allowing them to be ranked on the leaderboard prior to playing the minimum required league rounds.

Important things to know about the Manage Member External Scores Page:

  • The league administrator can reach the Manage Member External Scores page by navigating to the Manage League Members page and clicking the   Manage Member External Scores  button for the player.
  • You must enter 18-hole round scores.
  • Up to 20 rounds can be entered. The more rounds entered, the more stable the player's handicap will be as league rounds are played.
  • List the most recent rounds first. The handicap calculation will continue using these external rounds, starting with the most recent ones, until enough league rounds are played to calculate the handicap from those alone. For example, the USGA system takes into account a player's last 20 rounds... so the player would need to have played 20 league rounds before these external scores will no longer factor into the calculation.
  • Be sure to click the Save button when complete.

Managing Season Schedules

The Manage Season Schedule page displays all scheduled dates and locations for rounds the league will play. Important things to know about the Manage Season Schedule Page:

  • Scheduled rounds can be added via the 'Add a New Round' button at the top. You may add a single round, or recurring rounds (for example every Tuesday within a specified data range). A scheduled round must have a date between the start and end of your season. The scheduled Golf Course must exist on Fringe Golfers. If you don't see it, add it using the Manage Courses page!
  • Clicking on the   Delete Round  button for any scheduled date will remove that round from your season.
  • For individual match play seasons:
    • You can manually set up player matches by clicking the   Manage Player Matchups  button for each round.
    • The   Auto Assign Matchups  button in the upper right can be used to automatically schedule your player matchups in a round-robin fashion.
      • Be aware that this action will overwrite any existing matchups that you may have already scheduled.
      • The button has two modes that can be used, click the down arrow on the right side to see them:
        • Standard: This is the default behavior when clicking the button normally. The round-robin scheduling algorithm will ensure that each player matches up against every other player before repeating. The matchups follow a predictable pattern where one player is always in match #1 while the other players cycle around the match positions.
        • Shuffle Order: This option applies the same scheduling as the Standard option, but adds an extra step at the end to randomly shuffle the match order and player home/away positions. Use this option if you are using the assigned match numbers for your tee off order and don't want the same player going off first every week. Note that the shuffling is random, so if you don't like the results you can run it again to get different ordering.
      • This action is optional but recommended. You are free to manually define all matchups if you prefer, but this can be a tedious task.
      • You can override any of the matchups created by clicking the   Manage Player Matchups  button for a round.
      • Be sure to fully schedule your season dates and define your full season roster before using this button.
  • For team match play seasons:
    • You can manually set up team matches by clicking the   Manage Team Matchups  button for each round.
    • Player matchups for each team are defined elsewhere on the League Round Scores page.
    • The   Auto Assign Matchups  button in the upper right can be used to automatically schedule your teams in a round-robin fashion.
      • This action will schedule team matchups for each round, as well player matchups within each of those team matches. The player matchups are determined by ranking each team's starting lineup by their handicaps, and pairing up players in order of increasing handicap.
      • Be aware that this action will overwrite any existing matchups that you may have already scheduled.
      • The button has two modes that can be used, click the down arrow on the right side to see them:
        • Standard: This is the default behavior when clicking the button normally. The round-robin scheduling algorithm will ensure that each team matches up against every other team before repeating. The matchups follow a predictable pattern where one team is always in match #1 while the other teams cycle around the match positions.
        • Shuffle Order: This option applies the same scheduling as the Standard option, but adds an extra step at the end to randomly shuffle the match order and team home/away positions. Use this option if you are using the assigned match numbers for your tee off order and don't want the same team going off first every week. Note that the shuffling is random, so if you don't like the results you can run it again to get different ordering.
      • This action is optional but recommended. You are free to manually define all matchups if you prefer, but this can be a tedious task.
      • You can override any of the matchups created by clicking the   Manage Team Matchups  button for a round.
      • Be sure to fully schedule your season dates and define all teams before using this button.

Managing Season Members

The Manage Season Members page displays all the members of your league. Important things to know about the Manage Season Members Page:

  • The checkboxes on this page allow you to define which league members are participating in this season.
  • For leagues using the Manual Handicap Algorithm, this page will also allow entry of player handicaps.
  • You must click the   Save  button for any changes to take effect.
  • For team-based leagues, click the   Team Assignments  button to add teams and assign players to them.
  • For match play leagues, see the Match Play Substitutions section for instructions on setting up subs.
Managing Season Teams

The Manage Season Teams page displays all the teams defined for the associated season. Important things to know about the Manage Season Teams Page:

  • Create new teams by clicking the   Add a New Team  button.
  • Only players that are active for this season are available to add to a team. Players can be made active by checking their box on the Manage Season Members page.
  • Follow the instructions on the bottom of the Add/Edit Team page to define your teams.

Match Play Substitutions

Fringe Golfers supports player substitutions for both individual and team match play formats. Use the following instructions to substitute players in a match:

  • Individual Match Play: Add the players that you want to be subs on the Manage League Members page like any other player. After creating your season, go to the Manage Season Members page. There will be a checkbox there for each player where you can identify which players are substitutes for this season. Once you’ve completed that setting, if you go to the League Round Scores page for a particular round, you’ll see a   Player Substitution  button when you expand each match, where you can put in a substitute for either player in the match.
  • Team Match Play: Add the players that you want to be subs on the Manage League Members page like any other player. After creating your season, go to the Manage Season Members page. Here you will make the substitute players active for your season, but do not assign them to any team. Now when you set up your weekly player matchups for each team on the League Round Scores page, you'll see these substitute players at the bottom of the select option list for each team position. These reserve players can be substituted in for any team in your league.
    • Allow Team Player In Multiple Matchups: This setting is an alternative to using substitute players. It can be found in the League Season settings if Team Match Play is selected, and allows you to have an individual team member that is in attendance fill in for other team members that are missing. When set to 'Yes', the Manage Team Lineups page will allow you to select the same player into multiple matchup slots. When set to 'No', once a player is selected into a matchup, they will no longer be available for selection in other matchup slots.

Handicapping

Fringe Golfers currently supported handicapping algorithms:

  • USGA (Recommended): This handicap method is an approximation of the current USGA Handicap System that began in 2020. See our section on USGA Handicapping for details.
  • USGA Classic: This handicap method is an approximation of the old USGA Handicap System from 2019 and earlier. See our section on USGA Handicapping for details.
  • Straight Average: This method simply takes the average score in relation to par of your league members and uses that as the handicap.
  • Manual: Use this system if you do not want the system to calculate player handicaps. By default all players will default to scratch golfers (0 handicap), if you want different handicaps you have to set them yourself manually. The handicaps can be set to any desired value manually by the league administrator on the Manage Season Members page. Handicap changes will only take effect for new rounds to be entered.

For USGA and Straight Average handicapping algorithms, we allow customization with the following settings on the Manage League Season page:

  • Men's Max: This optional setting can be used to apply a maximum handicap value for male players. Leave the field blank for no max, or enter your desired max value. The value should be consistent with the Holes Played (9 or 18) setting you've chosen.
  • Women's Max: This optional setting works the same as the Men's Max setting.
  • Handicap Allowance (current USGA only): The Handicap Allowance is a percentage factor applied to each player's Course Handicap in order to create equity for all players participating in a specific format of play. This field has different defaults depending upon the scoring system selected: Individual: Stroke Play 95%, Stableford 95%, Round Ranking 95%, Match Play 100%. Team: Match Play (head-to-head) 100%, Match Play (team aggregate) 90%.
  • Percentage Factor (USGA Classic and Straight Average): The percentage factor allows you to reduce the handicaps to some fraction of the calculated average of the qualifying round scores. Entering a value of 1.0 will result in no reduction, while values between 0.0 and 0.99 will reduce the handicap to that percentage. This setting is often used when a league includes both low and high handicap players. Higher handicapper's scores are harder to predict and fluctuate more than the lower handicappers. Applying a percent reduction will impact the high handicappers more to help account for their wider range of scores. For example a 0.9 reduction factor will only drop a 5.0 a half stroke down to 4.5, but a 20 handicap will drop 2 strokes down to 18. The USGA calls this setting the "Bonus For Excellence" to also help encourage improvement, and uses a value of 0.96.
  • Number of Rounds Required: This is the minimum number of rounds required before a handicap can be calculated. The more rounds played the more accurate/stable the handicap will be. The USGA normally requires 5 rounds, however, we default this setting to 3 rounds to allow new players to get a handicap more quickly. You can lower this if you'd like, but be aware that the handicaps will fluctuate more with a lower number.
  • Number of Rounds Considered: This is the number of rounds that will be remembered from the player's history when calculating the handicap. The USGA defaults this to 20 rounds. Depending on how often you play, this could result in good rounds impacting your handicap for a long period of time. This can be adjusted to any value greater than or equal to the Number of Rounds Required.
  • Rounds Counted: This setting allows you to choose which of the rounds considered will actually be included in the calculation. Options are as follows:
    • Use USGA Formula: The USGA Formulas use a fraction of your best rounds from the last 20 played in the handicap calculation. When less than 20 rounds are available, the rounds are counted according to the tables below. As shown, here at Fringe Golfers we will use more rounds than the official USGA calculation when fewer than 9 rounds are played. This allows for a more forgiving handicap to newer players in your league. Once 9 or more rounds have been played, our calculation is the same as the official USGA with this option.
      Number of rounds played Official USGA Fringe Golfers
      1 N/A Best 1
      2 N/A Best 2
      3 to 5 Best 1 Best 3
      6 to 8 Best 2 Best 3
      9 to 11 Best 3 Best 3
      12 to 14 Best 4 Best 4
      15 to 16 Best 5 Best 5
      17 to 18 Best 6 Best 6
      19 Best 7 Best 7
      20 Best 8 Best 8

      Number of rounds played Official USGA Classic Fringe Golfers
      1 N/A Best 1
      2 N/A Best 2
      3 or 4 N/A Best 3
      5 or 6 Best 1 Best 3
      7 or 8 Best 2 Best 3
      9 or 10 Best 3 Best 3
      11 or 12 Best 4 Best 4
      13 or 14 Best 5 Best 5
      15 or 16 Best 6 Best 6
      17 Best 7 Best 7
      18 Best 8 Best 8
      19 Best 9 Best 9
      20 Best 10 Best 10

    • Count All Scores: All of the considered rounds are used.
    • Best 50 Percent of Scores: Only the best 50% of the round scores to be considered are used in the calculation. So if you have 10 qualifying round scores, only the top 5 will be used in the handicap calculation. If you have 20 qualifying round scores, only the top 10 will be used.
    • Drop Best And Worst Score: With this setting the 1 best and 1 worst round scores will be dropped, and the rest are used for the calculation. So if you have 10 qualifying round scores, we'll drop the top and bottom scores and calculate the handicap based upon the remaining 8. No scores are dropped until 3 or more rounds are available.

USGA Handicap Calculation

The USGA Handicaps page provides the capability to view USGA handicap calculations for each player in your league. The USGA Handicap is calculated using a complex formula, and represents the player's potential scoring ability. It is not an average, but rather an estimation of what the player might shoot on a good day. A player should not expect to shoot a net par round frequently. Below are some items to be aware of on this page:

  • Your league does not need to actually use USGA Handicapping in its league settings to have access to the USGA Handicap summary page. If it does not, this page is purely informational, and the handicaps shown will play no part in your league's scoring.
  • The formulas used by FringeGolfers are an approximation of the USGA formulas, however, they are not exact and the values we calculate should not be considered "official".
  • FringeGolfers maintains 18-hole handicap indexes behind the scenes for all players, and the 18-hole index is shown on this page. For 9-hole leagues, we normalize the handicap differentials for 18 holes when performing the handicap calculations. Technically the USGA system would combine front/back nine scores from separate rounds to come up with actual 18-hole rounds. However, we do not do this as it would take much longer to generate handicaps for 9-hole leagues.
  • More details on our 'USGA' and 'USGA Classic' calculations are included below. You can also get more information on USGA Handicapping on their website.
USGA
  • Two values will be displayed on the page: a Handicap Index and a Playing Handicap. The Handicap Index represents the player's potential scoring ability on any course. The Playing Handicap defines how many strokes a player will give or receive during an actual round. The Playing Handicap value we show assumes an "average" course with slope rating of 113 and a course rating equal to par. Your actual course will likely have a different ratings.
  • Ideally, the Handicap Index is calculated using the 8 best of your last 20 scores. The USGA allows for the calculation to be done with as few as 3 scores, where they will only use your single best score in the calculation. At FringeGolfers, we will calculate the handicap using all of the scores when 3 or fewer are played This allows for a more forgiving handicap for players with few rounds. Once 9 rounds have been played, FringeGolfers will match the actual USGA Handicap system for the number of rounds to factor in. The rounds that do not qualify are stricken out when displayed on our page.
  • A Handicap Differential is calculated for each round played. The round scores are first adjusted based on a max score per hole of double bogey plus handicap strokes received on the hole (or par + 5 if a handicap has not yet been established). The differential is then calculated using this formula: (Adjusted Gross Score - USGA Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating
  • The Handicap Index is finally calculated by averaging the eligible differentials. The Maximum Handicap index allowed is 54.0 on 18-holes (half that for 9-holes), so if the calculated value is higher it will be dropped to this maximum.
  • When a round is to be played, the Playing Handicap is calculated by first getting the Course Handicap using the formula: Handicap Index * ( Slope Rating / 113) + ( Course Rating – par ). This result is then multiplied by the handicap allowance to come up with the Playing Handicap that will be used to determine net scores for the round.
  • FringeGolfers does not support the Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC), Soft/Hard caps on handicap movement, or exception score adjustments.
USGA Classic
  • Two values will be displayed on the page: a Handicap Index and a Course Handicap. The Handicap Index represents the player's potential scoring ability on any course. The Course Handicap defines how many strokes a player will give or receive during an actual round. The Course Handicap value we show assumes an "average" course with slope rating of 113. Your actual course will likely have a different slope rating.
  • Ideally, the Handicap Index is calculated using the 10 best of your last 20 scores. The USGA allows for the calculation to be done with as few as 5 scores, where they will only use your single best score in the calculation. At FringeGolfers, we will calculate the handicap with as few as 3 scores, and will take all 3 of those into account. This allows for a more forgiving handicap for players with few rounds. Once 9 rounds have been played, FringeGolfers will match the actual USGA Handicap system for the number of rounds to factor in. The rounds that do not qualify are stricken out when displayed on our page.
  • A Handicap Differential is calculated for each round played. The round scores are first adjusted for the USGA's Equitable Stroke Control - in which there is a max number of strokes allowed on each hole depending upon your course handicap. For example, a player with a course handicap of 9 or lower cannot take more than double bogey for the purposes of calculating their handicap index. The differential is then calculated using this formula: (Adjusted Gross Score - USGA Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating
  • The Handicap Index is finally calculated by averaging the eligible differentials, and multiplying the average by 96%. The USGA applies this reduction as an incentive for players to improve their game. The Maximum Handicap index allowed is 36.4 for men and 40.4 for women on 18-holes (half that for 9-holes), so if the calculated value is higher it will be dropped to this maximum.
  • When a round is to be played, the Course Handicap is calculated by using the formula: Handicap Index * ( Slope Rating / 113). This value is then used to determine net scores for the round.

Scoring

Fringe Golfers currently supports league formats with the following scoring systems:

  • Individual Formats:
    • Stroke Play: This scoring system tracks each player's net scores relative to par to generate a single cumulative season score.
    • Stableford Points: This scoring system follows the standard stableford scoring system. Points are awarded for each hole played as follows:
      Net score relative to par Points awarded
      2 or more over 0
      1 over 1
      even 2
      1 under 3
      2 under 4
      3 under 5
      4 or more under 6
      The league administrator can designate rounds as "majors" on the Manage Season Schedule page. Major rounds will have double points. Cumulative scores are tracked for the season to generate the season's leaderboard.
    • Round Ranking Points: This scoring system treats each round played as a mini tournament. For each round, players are ranked by their net scores and points are assigned using a decreasing scale from first to last place. For example, 1st place might get 100 points, 2nd place 75 points, 3rd place 60 points, and so on. The league administrator can designate rounds as "majors" on the Manage Season Schedule page. Major rounds will have double points. Cumulative scores are tracked for the season to generate the season's leaderboard. The point scale can be customized using the following options:
      • Auto: The system will auto-generate a point scale for your league. The point scale will be top heavy, greatly rewarding the top finishers of the round. All players will get at least one point.
      • Interval: The league administrator specifies how many points are awarded to 1st place, and the step down interval between places. For example, if you enter 100 for 1st place and 5 for the step down, your point scale will be 100, 95, 90, 85, etc. If you have more players than positions supported by your point scale, those at the bottom will receive 0 points
      • Custom: The league administrator can enter any point scale they want directly into the text box. Enter 1st place points on the first line, 2nd place points on the next line, and so on.
    • Custom Points: This scoring system allows you to manually award points for each player. You have the option to enable point entry by hole, by round, or both. Cumulative scores are tracked for the season to generate the season's leaderboard.
    • Match Play Points per Hole: Each league member is matched up against another league member in one-on-one match play. The player with the lower handicap will play scratch golf, while the other player will get strokes based upon the difference between their handicaps. For example, if Player One is a 6 handicap and Player Two is a 10 handicap, then Player One will play scratch and Player Two will get a stroke on the 4 hardest holes (10 - 6 = 4). Points are awarded in several categories, and can be configured as described below. Points are divided between the players in the event of a tie.
      • Points Per Hole Won: Each hole in the match can be worth 0 to 8 points. The default is 2 points per hole.
      • Points Most Holes Won: The player that wins the most holes can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Front Nine Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the player with the front nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Back Nine Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the player with the back nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Round Net Low: The player with the net low score for the entire round can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 4 points.
      • Points For Attendance: Each player can be awarded from 0 to 50 points simply for showing up for the match. The default is 0 points.
    • Match Play Point per Round: Matchups and handicapping are identical to the prior scoring system. In this case, scoring is similar to the final day of the Ryder Cup, where each one-on-one match is worth a single point. The player winning the most holes will take the point. If all square at the end of the match, each player will be awarded a half point.
  • Team Formats:
    • Match Play - Head to Head Points per Hole: Each team member is matched up against a player on the opposing team in one-on-one match play. The player with the lower handicap will play scratch golf, while the other player will get strokes based upon the difference between their handicaps. For example, if Player One is a 6 handicap and Player Two is a 10 handicap, then Player One will play scratch and Player Two will get a stroke on the 4 hardest holes (10 - 6 = 4). Points are awarded in several categories, and can be configured as described below. Points are divided between the players in the event of a tie.
      • Points Per Hole Won: Each hole in the match can be worth 0 to 8 points. The default is 2 points per hole.
      • Points Most Holes Won: The player that wins the most holes can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Front Nine Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the player with the front nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Back Nine Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the player with the back nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Round Net Low: The player with the net low score for the entire round can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 4 points.
      • Points Team Front Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the team with the combined front nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Team Back Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the team with the combined back nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Team Round Net Low: The team with the combined net low score for the entire round can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 6 points.
      • Points For Attendance: Each player can be awarded from 0 to 50 points simply for showing up for the match. The default is 0 points.
    • Match Play - Head to Head Point per Round: Matchups and handicapping are identical to the prior scoring system. In this case, scoring is similar to the final day of the Ryder Cup, where each one-on-one match is worth a single point. The player winning the most holes will take the point. If all square at the end of the match, each player will be awarded a half point.
    • Match Play - Team Aggregate Points per Hole: With this format there is only a single Team vs Team match scored. All team members play their own ball on each hole. The "team" score for the hole is an aggregate of the individual team member's net scores, calculated according to the 'Team Score Type' setting as follows:
      • Better Ball: The single lowest net score of any team member will become the team's score for the hole. For example, if it's a 4-person team and the golfers shoot 4, 5, 5, 7 on the hole, then the team's score will be 4.
      • Cumulative: All of the team member's net scores are combined to come up with a cumulative team score. In the prior example, the team score would be: 4 + 5 + 5 + 7 = 21.
      Each golfer will have a "match handicap" that is determined from the course handicaps of all golfers involved in the match from both teams. The golfer with the lowest handicap will play scratch golf, while the other golfers will get strokes based upon the difference between their handicap and the lowest golfer's handicap. For example, consider the case where Team One's golfers have course handicaps of 5, 7, 10, 11, and Team Two's golfers have handicaps of 8, 8, 12, 15. In this case the low handicap is Team One's 5 handicap. That golfer would play scratch, while the others would all subtract 5 resulting in: Team One is 0, 2, 5, 6, and Team Two is 3, 3, 7, 10. Points are awarded in several categories, and can be configured as described below. Points are divided between the teams in the event of a tie.
      • Points Per Hole Won: Each hole in the match can be worth 0 to 8 points. The default is 2 points per hole.
      • Points Most Holes Won: The team that wins the most holes can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Team Front Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the team with the aggregate front nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Team Back Net Low: For 18-hole leagues, the team with the aggregate back nine net low score can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 0 points.
      • Points Team Round Net Low: The team with the aggregate net low score for the entire round can be awarded from 0 to 50 points. The default is 6 points.
    • Match Play - Team Aggregate Point per Round: Matchups and handicapping are identical to the prior scoring system. In this case, scoring is similar to the final day of the Ryder Cup, where each team match is worth a single point. The team winning the most holes will take the point. If all square at the end of the match, each team will be awarded a half point.

Match Play - Limit Strokes Given Per Hole

This option can be used if you want to limit how many strokes a player can get on a single hole in match play. For example, if you have a 12-handicap playing a 2-handicap for 9-holes, the high handicapper will be getting 10 strokes over 9 holes. This results in the high handicapper getting 2 strokes on one of the holes played. If you were to set the Max Strokes Given Per Hole to a value of 1, this would eliminate that extra stroke and the high handicapper would only get 1 stroke for each of the 9 holes. Some items to consider:

  • This isn't technically fair to the high handicapper. However, we provide the option as some leagues don't like giving multiple strokes on one hole.
  • This setting only impacts the strokes given to win a hole. The high handicapper still gets all handicap strokes for the purposes of Round or Nine Net Low points in Player vs Player matches (if applicable).

Match Play No Show Policy

There are several options to control how scoring is calculated when one player or team does not show up for a match:

  • No points awarded: Under this option, no points are awarded unless both opponents in the match play the round. The only exception is Points For Attendance, if enabled, will be awarded to the player that shows up.
  • All points to opponent: This option will award all available points to the player that showed up for the match.

Note: this setting is only applicable when a ghost or substitution is not used for the missing player.


Match Play Ghost Players

Ghost Teams and Ghost Players can be used in conjunction with our match play scoring systems. Ghosts are system-generated players that can be substituted in for missing players to allow the match to still be played in a realistic manner. Ghosts can be substituted in for your players at any time. The ghosts have various configurations that can be set on the Manage Season page:

  • Match Uneven Opponents Policy: This option is applicable when you have an odd number of teams or players in your league. This setting controls how the Auto Scheduler will set up matches. There are two options:
    • Schedule Bye Weeks: Under this option, the odd team/player out will be given a bye week.
    • Play Against Ghost: Here the odd team/player out will be scheduled to play against a ghost so all players will have a match every week.
  • Ghost Score: This setting specifies what score the Ghost Player will record when playing in a match. It works closely with the Ghost Score Offset (below). Options include:
    • Net Par: The ghost will shoot a net par round.
    • League Round Average Net: The ghost will shoot the average net score of all league players from the current league round. Be aware that the ghost's score will change as you are entering scores for the round, so you will not know what the ghost will shoot in advance. Prior to rounds being entered, the ghost will be shown as net par.
  • Ghost Score Offset: This setting is an optional offset added to the Ghost Score specified by the prior setting. This is where you choose how much to penalize the missing player/team by controlling how well the ghost will play. So for example, if you want the ghost to shoot +3, you could choose Net Par for the Ghost Score with Ghost Score Offset of 3. Or if you want the ghost to shoot exactly the league's average net, you'd choose League Round Average Net for the Ghost Score with Ghost Score Offset of 0.
  • Ghost Earns Points: With this setting you have the option to control whether the points earned by the ghost will be given to the missing player that the ghost is filling in for.

The process for installing a ghost into a match is different for Individual versus Team Match Play leagues:

  • Individual Match Play
    • Manage Season Schedule page. Ghosts would typically be put in here for bye week scenarios if you have an odd number of players. A ghost cannot earn points for a player regardless of the Ghost Earns Points setting when added on this page.
    • League Round Scores page. This is similar to adding a substitute player. Click the   Player Substitution  button for the match you want to launch the Manage Player Substitutions page. You will have a ghost player available at the bottom of the substitute player select option lists. When added in this way, the ghost can earn points for the player they are substituting for based upon the season's Ghost Earns Points setting.
  • Team Match Play
    • Manage Season Schedule page. Here you can enter a Ghost Team into your weekly matchups. This is typically used for bye week scenarios if you have an odd number of teams. If you manually add a ghost team, be aware that you'll also have to enter ghost players into each player matchup for the Ghost Team on the League Round Scores page. The Auto Scheduler will do this for you automatically if using that option.
    • League Round Scores page. Here the League Admin or Team Captains can swap in a ghost player for any team member. The ghost can earn points for the team or not based upon the season's Ghost Earns Points setting.

9-Hole vs 18-Hole League Support

This setting can be used to enhance support of 9-hole leagues. The settings will have the following effects:

  • 18 Holes: Choosing the '18 holes' setting is appropriate for leagues that play 18 holes, or less commonly if you play a mix of 9 and 18-holes depending on the day. The player's handicap index and course handicap values will be shown as 18-hole values. If only 9 holes are played for a round, you simply enter scores for that nine only, and the system will recognize this and adjust course handicaps appropriately.
  • 9 Holes: If you choose this option, the player's handicap index and course handicap will be shown as 9-hole values at all times. When scheduling your rounds, you will have the option to also schedule which nine is to be played. This can be done when you initially schedule the round, or you can go back later and edit the round to select a nine. When a specific nine is scheduled, the scorecards will only include that nine when you're entering scores. If a specific nine was not scheduled, then the scorecard will include both nines and you'd just enter scores for which ever was played. Prior to playing the round, we'll show the player's course handicap value for both nines as the may be different depending on which nine has the #1 handicapped hole.
    • Sync Player Front/Back Handicaps: There are times where you might see a player's handicap alternating between two values for the front and back nines. For example, a player might have a handicap of 3 for the front and 4 on the back. This can happen for a couple reasons, such as if the course's ratings are more difficult for one nine versus the other. This is sometimes a source of confusion for players. If you prefer to avoid this, the Sync Player Front/Back Handicaps setting can be used to force players to have the same course handicap for the front and back nines. Be aware that you are sacrificing some accuracy in the handicaps when enabling this. For our example player, their handicap would now "round up" to be a 4 on both front and back nines, so they are getting an extra stroke over 18 holes.

Skins Game

Skins tracking is an optional feature that Fringe Golfers provides for your league. A skins game is a common betting format in golf in which players are rewarded for scoring the lowest score on a hole among the entire field (no ties). The player that records the lowest score is said to win the "skin" for that hole. An 18-hole round has the potential for at most 18 skins, in the event that there are no halved holes. At the end of the round, the money pool is divided by the number of skins taken and players are paid out based upon the number of skins they won.

Important items to know about Fringe Golfer's Skins Game support:

  • League players do not all have to participate in the skins game. If a player does not wish to participate, the League Administrator can opt individual players out.
  • The skins pool size for each round will be shown in the upper right portion of the League Round Scores Page. The League Administrator has the ability to set the pool size.
  • The Skins Game Results for a given round can be viewed by clicking the hyperlink found on the League Round Scores Page.
  • The Skins Game Results Page shows all scores recorded for the round, highlighting those that resulted in a skin.
  • The League Home Page includes a Skins Game Leaderboard, which shows a cumulative total for skins and winnings taken for the entire season.
  • Settings for the Skins Game include:
    • Skins Option
      • Do Not Track: The skins game is disabled.
      • Track Net Skins: Skins are only tracked based upon net scores.
      • Track Gross Skins: Skins are only tracked based upon gross scores.
      • Track Net and Gross Skins: Skins are tracked based upon both net and gross scores. There are separate pools tracked for net and gross skins. Players may opt in/out of either pool individually.
    • Skins Participation Mode
      • Season: In this mode the League Administrator sets which players are participating in the skins game once for the entire season on the Manage Season Members page. Use this option if the players involved in the skins game do not change from week to week.
      • Round: In this mode the League Administrator sets which players are participating in the skins game separately for each round during the season on the Manage Round Skins Participation page. This page can be accessed by clicking the   Manage Round Skins Participation  button on the Manage Season Schedule page for each round. There will also be a hyperlink in the upper right area of the League Round Scores page for easy access when entering scores for a round. Use this option if you have different players buying into your skins game from week to week.
    • Skins Carryover Flag
      • Yes: When multiple players halve a hole, that skin will carry over to the next hole. This will continue until a skin is won, and that player will take the skin for the current hole plus any carry over holes. If consecutive holes are halved to end a match, those skins will go unawarded.
      • No: When multiple players halve a hole, the skin for that hole will go unawarded. Players will only collect a single skin for holes that they win.
    • Reduce Hole Handicaps By Half Stroke
      • Enabling this setting will reduce the handicap strokes received on each hole by 0.5 for the purposes of the skins game only. For example, if a player is getting a stroke on a Par 5, for the skins game they will score a 4.5 instead of a 4. Or if they are getting 2 strokes, they will score a 3.5 instead of a 3. This allows a lower handicap player scoring a "natural" birdie to win the skin over a higher handicap player that scores an "adjusted" birdie. But if there are no "natural" birdies, the higher handicap player would still take the skin over a "natural" par.
      • This setting only affects Net Skins games.

Advanced Statistics

Fringe Golfers provides various advanced statistics to analyze your league data. The stats data can be limited to individual seasons or all time. You can optionally choose to show stats based upon net or gross scores, and can filter on individual golf courses, dates or players if desired. Statistics available include:

  • Score History: This stat simply shows a summary of scores recorded based on the input filters. For example, you can lookup scores that your entire league recorded on a specific date, or all scores that a particular player recorded at a particular course, etc.
  • Score Distribution: This stat shows how many birdies, pars, bogeys, etc have been recorded by each league member. So if your league wants to track birdie leaders, for example, that stat can be generated with this option.
  • Scoring Average: This stat shows the average number of strokes taken per round for each league member, and includes the number of rounds played and total strokes taken.
  • Best Round: This stat shows the lowest round score recorded for each player during the selected time period, according to the input filters. If a player has multiple rounds with the same low score, the most recent is selected.
  • Putting Average: This stat will only show data if your league tracks putting. If enabled, it will show the average number of putts taken per round for each league member, and includes the number of rounds played and total putts taken.
  • Putting Distribution: This stat will only show data if your league tracks putting by hole. If enabled, it will show the number of 0-putts, 1-putts, 2-putts, 3-putts, or worse have been recorded over the chosen time period.
  • Par 3 Performance: This stat shows each league member's average score on Par 3 Holes only, and includes the number of Par 3 holes played and the total strokes on those holes.
  • Par 4 Performance: This stat shows each league member's average score on Par 4 Holes only, and includes the number of Par 4 holes played and the total strokes on those holes.
  • Par 5 Performance: This stat shows each league member's average score on Par 5 Holes only, and includes the number of Par 5 holes played and the total strokes on those holes.
  • Hole Difficulty (By Course): This stat requires selection of an individual golf course, and shows the average score for each hole on that course. The far right "Average to Par" column shows how far under/over par the hole is playing, so sorting on that column will show the holes in order of increasing difficulty.
  • Potential Best Round (By Course): This stat requires selection of an individual golf course, and retrieves the best score recorded on every hole for the player during the selected time period. These hole scores are then assembled to show the best "potential" round the player could achieve if their best holes all occurred during the same round.

League Announcements

Fringe Golfers provides the capability for league administrators to send announcements to players in their league. Each player will be sent an email notification indicating that they have received a new announcement, which can be read by logging in to the website and navigating to the League Announcements page.

Important items to know about League Announcements:

  • Players need to have a verified email address in order to receive the email notifications.
  • When creating a new announcement:
    • The announcement will be sent to the active members of your currently selected season. Be sure to have the correct season selected on the League Announcements page before clicking the New Announcement button.
    • You can click on the 'To' field to expand and see the specific members that will receive the announcement. Any members that have not verified their emails will be identified here. These members will still be able to view the announcement within the website, we just will not send them an email notification.
    • The announcement message body can only consist of text formatted using the editor, we do not allow uploading of images or files. You can, however, add hyperlinks or embed images that are hosted elsewhere using the buttons on the editor.
  • League announcements will automatically expire and be purged by the system after 180 days. Additionally, only the most recent 30 announcements are retained, the system will automatically purge older announcements when this threshold is exceeded.

Handicap History

Use the handicap history page to see how your handicap has been trending recently.

Important items to know about Handicap History page:

  • The line chart will plot your updated handicap values from your last 20 rounds played.
  • Click the points on the line to see details about the round associated with each handicap update.
  • FringeGolfers.com began saving handicap history data in January 2020, so no data is available prior to that time.
  • This page is only available to premium users. Click the Premium Extras link in the left side menu for details.