Welcome to GolfDogFight!  We are pleased you've chosen us to assist you in managing your points game group.  This article provides some tips and best practices for getting your points game up and running.

Before we begin, you should be familiar with the concepts and terminology used in GolfDogFight.

Members are the individuals that are a part of your group, and those that may play in any given points game.  Each member is assigned their own unique user id and password.  Members can login using their unique user id and password to see information tailored to just themselves, or members can login using the group id and password to see general group information.  If a user ever forgets his user id and/or password, he can retrieve it by clicking on the Forgot Password link on the login page.  simply enter the user's e-mail address, and the user id password is sent to the member's e-mail address on record.

Rounds are the actual rounds of golf that are played for your points game group.  You can schedule unlimited rounds, and rounds can be scheduled as far in advance as you like. 

Teams are pairings or foursomes of members playing together in a team points game.

Signup Status is an indication of whether a member is playing in a round or not.  P means participating and N means not participating.  For your convenience, when a round is scheduled, GolfDogFight can send an e-mail to each of your members with links the member can click to indicate whether they are participating or not participating.   Members can also choose their status from within the GolfDogFight web application.

Points are awarded to each member in each round based typically on a hole-by-hole performance.  Usually members are awarded points based on how they score on each hole.  For example, some groups give five points for an eagle, four points for a birdie, three points for a par, two points for a bogey, one point for a double bogey, and zero points for a triple bogey and higher.  The total of these points makes up each member's points for the round.  GolfDogFight can accommodate any points scoring system your group uses.

Quota is the most important piece of information in a points game group.  The object of a points game is for each individual to beat his quota.  An individual's quota is based on their past points game performance.  GolfDogFight provides several ways of calculating each member's quota.  The easiest quota calculation method is the average of the member's points from the last ten rounds in which he has played.  A member's quota goes up when he plays well, and it goes down when he doesn't.  This is how a points game is fair to all players.  The better you play, the higher (and tougher to beat) your quota.  The worse you play, the lower (and in theory, easier to beat) your quota.  Each member's quota is adjusted automatically by GolfDogFight after each round, taking away the single most frustrating task in managing a points game group.

Plus/Minus is the amount by which a player beats or doesn't beat his quota.  Look at the chart below to see how a player's plus minus is calculated.

Player's quota going into the round
 Player's point total for the round
 Player's plus/minus
 35  38  +3
 35  35  0
 35  33  -2

Individual Net is a points round in which the player with the highest plus minus is the winner.  This is the typical points game format.

Individual Gross is a round format in which the player with the highest point total for the round is the winner.

*Rounds can also have two-man or four-man team formats using the net and/or gross format.

Merit Points are awarded to the winners of a round.  How many points you award and how they are allocated is entirely up to your group.  In many cases the total number of merit points available are based on the number of participants in the round.  Some clubs allocate merit points in the following fashion: 1st place - 50%, 2nd place - 30%, 3rd place - 15%, and 4th place - 5%.

Now that you are familiar with GolfDogFight concepts and terminology, you can begin to manage your points game group.  The following are the steps to get started.

First, you need to choose how your members' quotas are calculated

1.  Login to GolfDogFight.

2.  Click on the Administrator menu item, enter the administrator password, and click Login.  The Administrator Home page with your group's information will display.

3.  On the Administrator Menu, click Manage Group Settings.

4.  Under Quota Calculation Method, select the method by which each golfer's quota will calculated:

Average of Previous Rounds This method will calculate each golfer's quota by taking the average of their Points from a specific number of previous rounds.  You can set the number of rounds used to calculate the quota by selecting the appropriate number from the dropdown list below the text Calculate golfer Quotas based on the moving average of the following number of rounds.

Average of Best Ten of Last Twenty This method will calculate each golfer's quota by taking the average of the points of their best ten rounds from the last twenty rounds they have played.  We've received feedback that this is the most effective method to reduce sandbagging.  Using this method is most similar to calculating a true handicap.

Adjust Quota Based on Plus/Minus This method will automatically increase or decrease a golfer's quota based on their Plus/Minus from the previous round.  Select the amount a quota should be increased or decreased next to the appropriate Plus/Minus score.  You can also specify No Change for a Plus/Minus score.  When a round is completed, each member's quota is automatically adjusted based on the plus/minus for that round.  For example:

Golfer's Plus/Minus   
Adjustment
Plus 5 or greater
+2
Plus 4
+2
Plus 3
+1
Plus 2
+1
Plus 1
0
Even 0
Minus 1
0
Minus 2 -1
Minus 3 -1
Minus 4 -2
Minus 5 or greater -2

If John Smith's quota going into the round is 36 and he scores 39 points for the round (for a plus/minus of +3), his new quota will be 37. 

*Remember, GolfDogFight is flexible enough to accommodate whatever point adjustment system your group uses.

5.  Points and Round Reset allows you to "reset" the merit point totals for each golfer moving forward from the date selected.  For instance, if you have a year-end championship based on the number of merit points earned during a calendar year, GolfDogFight allows you display the points earned for just that calendar year.   Keep in mind that no data is deleted when this date is set.  The application only displays merit points earned on and after the selected date.  So you can change the date whenever you like with no data loss.  For now, you can leave Points and Round Reset blank.

6.  Click the Save button to apply your changes. 

Next, enter your members

1.  Click Manage Members under the Coordinator menu.

2.  Click the New Member button.

3.  Enter the appropriate information on each tab and click the Next button.  Fields marked with an * are required.  Below is additional information about adding a member.

You must provide an e-mail address for each member so they can receive important information from the group.

Checking Listed beside the various contact information allows other members to view that information.

On the Membership Info tab, check Use Initial Quota to specify whether the golfer's initial quota should be used when calculating Plus/Minus for a round.  If Use Initial Quota is checked, Plus/Minus scores for incomplete rounds will be equal to the Initial Quota value no matter how many rounds a golfer has played.  The initial quota can be used for new members in your group who do not have any round history.  Don't forget to un-check this box once the member has played in a sufficient number of rounds.  Some clubs use this feature to "freeze" a new member for a certain number of rounds to prevent sandbagging.

IMPORTANT: If you are using the adjustment method of quota calculation, you must enter an Initial Quota and keep the Use Initial Quota box checked for each member.

Check This member is also a club coordinator to allow this member to manage members, rounds, and news items.  Coordinators cannot update group information and settings. Only the administrator can access and manage group information and settings.  We've received feedback that having more than one coordinator results in a more efficiently run points game.

On the Initial Rounds tab, enter points for up to twenty (20) "history" rounds for each member.  Entering initial rounds points is useful when using an average points calculation method because it results in more accurate quotas for each member moving forward.  Doing this is much easier than creating twenty "history" rounds and entering scores and points for each player.

4.  Click the Finish button to save the member's information.

5.  Repeat steps 1 through 4 for each member of your group.

Next, schedule a round

1.  Click Manage Rounds under the Coordinator menu.

2.  Click the Add Round button.

3.  On the General Information Tab of the Add/Edit Rounds Dialog enter the following information:

The Description field allows you to provide a brief description of the round.  For example, "Fourth of July Points Game."

The Round Date field stores the calendar date of the round.  In certain lists throughout the application, rounds are sorted by this date.

The Round Notes field stores general information about the round that you may want to communicate to your members, such as tee times, sign up restrictions, course conditions, etc.

Checking Make notes visible to all players will cause the notes to be visible to all players.  Un-checking this box will make the notes private to coordinators and will only be viewable from this page.

Checking Notify and allow players to sign up by E-mail will send each player with a valid internet E-mail address an E-mail stating that a new round has been scheduled.  This is one of the most convenient features of GolfDogFight.  The E-mail will contain links that allow the golfer to indicate whether they do or do not want to participate in the round.  By clicking on the appropriate link, the player's Signup Status is automatically changed with just a single click.  This powerful feature can let your club know in advance which members are playing that day. 

4.  On the Round Format Tab, select the format(s) for the round:

Individual Net - The winner is the player who beats his/her quota by the highest amount (best plus/minus).

Individual Gross - The winner is the player with the most points.

Check Teams to use a team format.  You may then select two or four-man teams, and net or gross formats.

5.  Click the Save button to save the round.

Next, your players will signup for the round via the e-mail links or on the GolfDogFight website


Next, and most importantly, PLAY GOLF! 
Before heading out to the course, be sure to print out the Round Worksheet by clicking the link on the home page under upcoming rounds or on the players page - accessed by clicking the ball and tee icon in the grid under Manage Rounds.  Printing out this sheet will make it easier for you to track points, etc.

Finally, enter scores, points, etc.

1.  Click Manage Rounds under the Coordinator menu.

2.  Click the ball and tee icon on the row for the round you just played.  This will take you to the players page.  This page has many options and is best described here.

Congratulations!  You've just completed your first points game round.

We hope you enjoy the convenience and accuracy of managing your points game group with GolfDogFight.

If you ever have any questions or problems, please contact us by submitting a support request at support.golfdogfight.com.







Article ID: 2, Created On: 4/25/2010, Modified: 5/8/2010

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