Once you have decided to create a Golf Group, your next step is to setup the group in TeeRival.

We will assume you have downloaded the app and logged in. So to start the setup, go to the groups page from the icon in the bottom menu.

From here, you can click the link in the top right corner that says “Create Group”

Groups are bound to a Golf Club. So if you create a group at Quail Creek, which has 2 courses, your group can play any of those courses in its matches.

However, if you wanted to play a match with the group at a different club, say Lake Valley, that won’t work. Groups are restricted to the clubs they were setup for.

If you are a member of many clubs and want to have groups at all of them, TeeRival can handle that easily, and give you dropdowns and pages to manage your groups at each club and will even help you make sure you don’t double book yourself on the same day at multiple clubs or groups.

The next screen will ask you what club you want to set the group up for.

Once you have selected your club, now you will go through an interview asking for all of the major information the new group will need to become active. Some best practices as it relates to the interview:

Group Name: Imagine your club eventually has 40 groups playing in TeeRival and your members need to be able to determine which is yours from the others. That is why a unique name is best.

Some examples that work well are:

“Tuesday Loopers”

“MidWeek Golfoholics”

“MWF Low Handicap”

Poor choices are:

“Golf Group”

“Saturday”

“Test Group”

Group Description: This is where it is very important to describe your group. Talk about who runs the group, how much you play for if anything, what games you like to play, what days you play, etc.

The software will only display the group to players who meet your handicap criteria and gender selections. So give them as much other info as possible and always end with something like:

“We like to be competitive, but the most important part of this group is having fun”. Or your spin on that message. Be welcoming and inviting, you never know when your next good friend will be met by encouraging them to join your group.

Match Frequency: As you can see above, you have 3 choices:

Once a week

Multiple days each week

Random

You can change these selections later, so make your best guess.

We usually recommend setting to one day a week at first, create some consistency, and then if the members tell you they want more days after they play a few matches, you can always make that change.

Minimum # of Players: You can set the minimum to anything you like, but we recommend leaving at 2 players. This means your group will run with as few as 2 players. If you set your minimum to 16 players, if you get 15 players but are one short before the match starts, they system will cancel the match since it did not reach its minimum.

Maximum # of Players: This setting is worth some thought. At first we would recommend setting to 12 players. As your group grows, you can decide if you want to increase.

Your matches will always be limited to the number of tee times you have, so don’t worry about too many people signing up. However if your maximum setting is too low, that will hinder your matches more than help.

As your group grows this setting should grow with it as you see fit.

Gender: Normally groups are limited to a single gender, so men play in men’s groups and same for ladies. If you have a group for couples, that is where we see the mixed gender setting the most.

Number of Holes: Most groups are either playing 9 or 18 holes, but if you plan to play both 9 hole and 18 hole matches, you can select the “varies” option.

Handicap Index® Range: A VERY IMPORTANT SETTING. Make sure your range is not too wide. Players with a 35.4 handicap are not going to want to play with a scratch golfer and vice-versa.

If you are a 19.3 handicap, create a group that has a bit of room on either side of that. A good rule of thumb is 6 in either direction. So if you are a 19.3, your range might be 13 - 25.

That range will attract the players that are close to your handicap and will ensure members enjoy your group.

Team Rotation: Most groups choose Handicap Level. This means the teams or formed so the total handicap of each team is as even as possible. This makes for the most fair and competitive matches.

Random allows for the software to create pairings based on who has not played together. This is good for making sure everyone plays with everyone and is good for social interaction and ensuring members know one another.

But the teams can vary widely and you can have some blow out matches because the handicaps are ignore and one team has all very low handicaps while another team has all the higher index players.

Fees: The last decision you have to make before TeeRival creates your group is to decide about wagering and entry fees.

If your group just plays for fun, use the slider at the top and it will remove any fees and gambling from the group.

If you want to have purses as part of your group, establish what each player will pay to play the matches they opt into. The most popular amount is $5, the second most popular is $20, and the third is $10. So you can choose any of those amounts and be safe.

The more money you play for, the less members you will have. But if you already know of 8-12 players who want to play for $50 each match, then set it up and let TeeRival handle the rest.

The admin fee is a fee that goes to you to manage the group. So if you want to play for $20 per person, but $2 of that needs to go to you to run the group or pay for appetizers, or whatever, you would set the entry fee at $18 and the admin fee to $2.

This will display to players as $20 to enter but will only use $18 of each players entry toward purses. The $2 will be left out to pay you or reimburse your expenses. Only about 1% of all groups have an admin fee.

You are done! After that click the “Create Group” button and your group has been created and is active. In the next course you will learn how to invite players and build your group.