Formula 18 Golf is a software platform that helps golfers plan trips, run tournaments, and track solo rounds. You keep score — we keep the math honest. Handicaps, differentials, payouts, pairings, and cost splits calculated automatically, so the group spends time playing instead of arguing over a spreadsheet.

Three kinds of golfers:

• Players — log solo rounds, join trips and events you've been invited to, track your own stats, and follow your buddies in Community.
• Coordinators — plan a golf trip for your buddies: rosters, pairings, lodging, chat, and cost tracking in one place.
• Commissioners — run tournaments, leagues, or multi-trip seasons with payout tracking, skins, closest-to-pin, and reporting.

Free for everyone through February 28, 2027. Paid pricing begins March 1, 2027 — see Pricing for the details. The only money that moves today is real-world event registration (course fees, entry fees, and pot buy-ins), which goes to your commissioner through Stripe.

No. You can play and log rounds without one. If you link your GHIN, we pull your handicap index automatically so your differentials and stats stay current. Completely optional. Automatic GHIN posting back to the USGA is on the roadmap for Spring 2027.

Either. A Saturday group of four is a "trip." A county-wide club championship is an "event." Same tools, same math, same chat. It scales from a weekend foursome to a 100-player tournament without changing how you use the app.

Yes — the app is live on iPhone and Android. Use the app for scoring and Community, and formula18golf.com in any browser for registration, payments, and event details.

Event registration and payment happen on the website only — the phone app never asks for money. When you register for an event, you'll see a breakdown:

• Course Fee — the green fee the course charges
• Entry Fee — paid to your commish (waived if you're a season member)
• Pot Buy-Ins — Skins, CTP, Birdies, etc. — opt-out of any you don't want to play

One Stripe Checkout charges the total. You'll get two emails: a Stripe receipt and a Formula 18 Golf "= Locked In" confirmation. Your payment goes to your commish through Stripe.

Course Fee = the green fee paid to the golf course (it's their charge for playing). Entry Fee = paid to your commish for running the event. Both apply unless the commish has waived one (e.g., season members typically have the entry fee waived).

Your commish sets up seasons (e.g., "Spring 2027 League"). If they've added you to a season's roster and you've paid the season fee, your entry fee is automatically waived for every event in that season. Course fees and pot buy-ins still apply per event. Talk to your commish to join one of their seasons.

Finish the Math = you've joined an event but haven't paid yet. Pick your pots, square up the fee, and you're done. = Locked In = you're fully paid and in the field. Pot selections lock at this point — to change them, contact your commish. (Stops refund headaches if you decide mid-week you want to add a pot.)

One is from Stripe (the financial receipt, required for legal/tax purposes). The other is from Formula 18 Golf — our branded confirmation with the line-item breakdown. To turn off the Formula 18 Golf version, go to Settings → Notifications → Payment confirmation. Stripe's receipt is independent and can't be turned off from our side.

Your commissioner pays winners directly — usually by Venmo. Formula 18 Golf does the math and shows who won what, but never holds or sends prize money, and keeps nothing.

Reach out to your commish first — they can process a refund through Stripe. When the refund goes through, your registration is automatically cancelled and your spot opens to the waitlist. The refund lands in your bank within 5-10 business days.

Your registration cancels automatically and your spot opens to the waitlist. Your commish gets an urgent alert. Please contact your commish first if it was a mistake — they can ask their bank to withdraw the dispute. Disputes have time limits (typically 7-14 days) and the dispute fee can come back on the commish.

ACH transfers take 3-5 days to clear. If your bank rejects it (insufficient funds, account issue), you'll get an email and your registration cancels. To re-claim your spot, sign back in and pay again — try a card if ACH keeps bouncing.

/player/payment shows every open event you owe for, the full breakdown, and a "Pay" button. Your home dashboard also surfaces unpaid events with a badge.

Community is your home after you log in on the web, and the Community tab in the app. It shows:

• Your buddies' and league-mates' rounds — the latest 10, with Show more to load more
• Live circles of people on the course right now — tap one to see their round
• Heritage stories and course history (they rotate daily)
• League results

Tap the small Attest pill on a buddy's or league-mate's round to vouch that you saw it. You can't attest your own round. Several people can attest the same round — their names show as "Attested by …".

You can comment on any round you can see — text and emoji, up to 500 characters. Comments open right under the post. You can delete your own comment, and the post owner can delete any comment on their post. On someone else's comment, tap … → Report.

Yes — one photo per round. Tap Edit on your post to add it. Only your buddies see the photo; league-mates see the post but not the photo. You can report other people's photos. Reports go to Formula 18 Golf support (support@formula18golf.com), not to your commissioner.

Only two: when someone attests your round, and the first comment on your post (once per post). To stop the comment email, turn off Comments on my posts in Settings.

Open Formula Golfers. Show your QR code ("Scan to add me") or tap Scan a golfer's code — scanning makes you buddies instantly. Or tap +Add a Golfer and search by name, first name + last initial (e.g. "Owen N."), or exact email, then send a request. = Golf Circle lists your Pending requests, then your Total Golfers.

Spectators are buddies and league-mates who open your live round. While you play, you'll see a small "N Spectators!" badge with their faces — on the home screen (right side, just above the compass) and on your live scorecard under the hole info. Swipe it away to hide it until the back nine (hole 10); swipe it on the back nine and it's gone for the rest of the round. Only people who can already see your rounds show up, as first name and last initial.

Those are league notifications. Once you've played in one of your commish's events, you get updates when they run another one — birdies, leaderboard changes, and the close — so the league stays connected even when you're not in the field.

Phone Settings → Formula 18 Golf → Notifications → Off. That's the only way to silence them entirely. There's no per-commish toggle by design.

You're fully paid and registered for the field. Pot selections are locked. You'll get a pairings email 2 days before the event and another the morning of. On event day, score from the app.

Settings → Notifications → Payment confirmation. Stripe still sends its own receipt regardless of this toggle.

Most tiles (Scores, Leaderboard, My Games, Chat) only activate when you're in an active event or trip. If you haven't joined or been invited to anything yet, those tiles stay inactive until one opens.

Rounds = history of every round you've played (solo, trip, or event).
Scores = live hole-by-hole scoring for the event or trip you're playing right now.

Live hole-by-hole scoring happens in the app (iPhone or Android) — it's built for on-course use on your phone. If you already played, use + Post Score to add your total.

Top nav → Trips. You'll see trips you've been invited to, trips you've accepted, and (if you're a Coordinator) trips you've created.

A Trip is a multi-round golf vacation with a group — 2-3 rounds over a weekend, capped at 12 players including the Coordinator. An Event is a single tournament, usually one day, with formal scoring, pot buy-ins, and payouts.

Coordinators organize trips. Commissioners run tournaments and events. Players play in trips or events. Any Player can organize a trip; becoming a Commissioner is a separate onboarding (talk to us).

A buddy or league-mate who opens your live round to follow along. You'll see them in the small "N Spectators!" badge while you play. Only people who can already see your rounds can spectate.

Green "Settled" next to a player means they've paid their share for the trip (confirmed by the Coordinator). Gray "Unsettled" means they haven't yet. Trips currently handle payments person-to-person (Venmo, Zelle, etc.); Events use Stripe on the website.

A Variable status is a player who accepted a trip invite and later dropped out. They stay visible (in yellow) so the roster history is honest, but they don't count toward pairings or the cost split.

The summary block at the top of every trip — dates, destination, lodging, and costs. Everything that defines the trip at a glance.

The shared costs (food, entertainment, lodging, vendor fees) split evenly across the roster. When Balance divides evenly and everyone's Settled, the trip is "All Squared Up."

Your Golf Circle is your buddies — the Formula Golfers you've connected with in the app. Once connected, you see each other's rounds in Community and can invite them to trips, events, and rounds with one tap. Find it under Formula Golfers → = Golf Circle.

Our course pages — history, details, and notes on courses — are public. The Heritage, Lost & Closed, and Where to Miss collections are members-only. Log In or Join Free to read them.

Click the link in your invite email. On the website, Log In or Join Free if it's your first event, search for the event by name, and click Join. You'll get a "Finish the Math" email with a link to pay and confirm your games.

Check your email for the invite link, or log in and look for a Pending Trip banner on your dashboard. Accept, and you'll see it under Trips.

Yes. On the trip page, click Subtract me from Trip. You'll become a Variable (visible but not active). You can rejoin later if spots remain.

You go on the waitlist. If anyone drops out or has their payment reversed, you're promoted automatically and emailed.

Trips still use person-to-person payment (Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, check, cash). Your Coordinator picks the method. Once you've sent payment, tap All Squared Up in the app and pick the method you used — your Coordinator confirms on their side, and your status flips to Settled.Note: This is different from event registration, which uses Stripe Checkout on the website.

The trip page shows your Settled/Unsettled status. For dollar amounts and methods, contact your Coordinator directly — they have the full picture.

Solo = a round you played outside of a trip or event. Trip = a round that's part of a Coordinator's organized trip. Event = part of a scheduled tournament. The icon on each row in My Rounds tells you which is which — plane for trip, medal for event, dot for solo.

Solo, event, and trip rounds all count toward your handicap index — and so do scores you add with + Post Score.

Yes. Tap + Post Score (in Community, or in My Rounds / Round History). Pick the course, tee, date, 9 or 18, and your total — front and back nine are optional. It counts toward your handicap and overall stats, but not the hole-by-hole Formula stats (there's no hole data). You can fix it with Edit Score on the round's Full card for 12 hours after posting; then it locks.

Your solo and posted rounds, yes — use Delete Score or Delete post. League and trip rounds can't be deleted.

Either. Pick yards or meters in Settings. It only changes how distances are shown.

Not yet. You'll need to post rounds manually through your GHIN account or app. Formula 18 Golf calculates your differentials and tracks your handicap index internally, but we don't push scores to the USGA network today. Automatic GHIN posting is on the roadmap for Spring 2027.

A single-round USGA calculation: (Gross − Course Rating) × 113 / Slope Rating. Your handicap index is the average of your best 8 of your last 20 differentials.

Rounds sync from your phone to our servers when the phone has internet. If you played with signal, wait a minute and refresh — it should appear. If you played offline without downloading the course first (see next question), the round data may not have saved.

Partially. If you download your course before teeing off (Hamburger Menu → Solved Courses → tap the course to download), you can score a round with no signal — the data stays on your phone and syncs when you reconnect. Without that download, scoring requires a live connection. Before any round in spotty coverage, download the course first and keep a paper card as backup.

Chat is visible only to players on the trip roster. If you declined or haven't accepted yet, you'll see a placeholder asking you to join. Once you're on the roster, the chat unlocks.

On the login screen, click Forgot password. We'll email you a reset link. Check spam if it doesn't arrive within 2 minutes.

Your data is tied to your account, not your phone. Log in on the new device and everything's there — trips, rounds, your Golf Circle, stats. Your push notifications will re-register the first time you open the app on the new phone.

Log in → Settings → Account → Delete Account. This permanently removes your data per the Privacy Policy.