Most golf apps track your game
This one runs your trip. That is the whole difference, and it decides which of these you actually want — possibly both.
These aren't really competing categories. A rangefinder and handicap app answers “how am I playing?” Duffers Anonymous answers “who owes what, what's the score, and what time are we eating?” Plenty of people will want one of each.
Two different jobs
Almost every golf app on the store is built around one golfer and one round. That's a real problem and the good ones solve it well. It isn't the problem twelve people driving five hours to play thirty-six holes a day have — and it isn't the problem the same eight guys have every Saturday, when the skins carried twice and somebody is doing the math in the parking lot.
Built around a golfer
Yardages to the front, center and back. A handicap index that keeps itself current. Shot tracking, strokes gained, a season of stats. The unit is you, and the timeline is every round you ever play.
Get one if you want your game measured and your index official.
Built around the outing
A roster, the golf, side games running across every group at once, and one settlement at the end. Four rounds over three days with a lodge split eight ways, or a Saturday skins game that's done by lunch — same shape either way. The unit is the event, not the season.
Get it if you're the one organizing, and the spreadsheet is yours.
What to actually check before a group trip
Whichever app you land on, these are the questions that decide whether it survives contact with twelve people and a 7:40 shotgun. Ours are answered on the feature pages; take the list to any app you're weighing up.
Can one person score for four?
If everyone has to enter their own card, half the group won't, and the leaderboard is fiction by the sixth hole.
Do groups that tee off apart share a board?
Waves finish an hour apart. If the standings only exist per round, somebody is reconciling paper at dinner.
What happens with no signal?
The back nine of most courses worth playing is a dead zone. Scores must save locally and sync later.
How hard is it to get everyone in?
Onboarding is where group apps die. A short code beats an account hunt and an invite nobody can find.
Does the money live anywhere?
Green fees, lodging, dinner and side-game winnings settle together or they don't settle at all.
Does it survive the trip ending?
The scores, photos and final standings are the thing you'll want in eleven months when the argument restarts.
What we don't do
Three reasons you might want a round app as well as this one, or instead of it.
We're not a handicap authority
Handicaps apply inside your trip, allocated by each hole's stroke index so net and gross both stay right. But scores don't post to a governing body and this won't give you an official index. If that matters, use an app licensed to provide one.
iPhone only, for now
Android is in development, and the scoring engine is already built against shared cross-platform test vectors so both apps agree to the stroke when it lands. Today, though, it's iPhone.
No shot tracking or swing analysis
We do GPS yardages and per-hole putts and greens in regulation. Club-by-club shot tracking, strokes gained and multi-season analysis are somebody else's speciality.
Common questions
Do I have to choose between a round app and a trip app?
No, and most people shouldn't. A rangefinder and handicap app answers how you're playing over a season. Duffers Anonymous organizes a trip — the roster, the schedule, the side games across every foursome, the expenses and the settlement. Plenty of golfers will keep one of each.
Does Duffers Anonymous give me an official handicap index?
No. It applies handicaps within your trip so net and gross both stay right, but it isn't a handicap service and it doesn't post scores to a governing body. If you want an official index, use an app licensed to provide one.
Does it have GPS yardages?
Yes. Front, center and back to the green from where you're standing, on satellite imagery, with tap-to-measure for anything else. Courses arrive with full scorecards, so par, yardage and stroke index are already right.
Is it free?
Yes. Free on iPhone, with no subscription, no premium tier and no per-trip charge. Android is in development.
Does it have to be a multi-day trip?
No. A weekly Saturday skins game, a member-guest, a bachelor party, a charity scramble, a four-day trip — they're all the same shape: a roster, the golf, the side games and a settlement at the end. A weekly game is just one that's over by lunchtime, and there's a whole page on running one.
Can I run a regular weekly game with it?
Yes, and it's one of the things it's best at. The same eight or twelve players, the same skins or match play format, and a payout worked out before anyone has left the parking lot — every week, without somebody keeping a running tab in their notes app.
Does it keep a season-long league table?
No. Each outing carries its own standings and its own settlement, so Saturday's skins are paid on Saturday rather than rolling into a season total that has to be reconciled in October. Points races run across a trip, not across a year.
What it does instead
Weekly Games
The Saturday skins game, with the carryovers worked out and the payout settled the same morning.
Trip Planning
Dates, courses, rooms and a six-character code that gets the group in.
Live Scoring & Side Games
One phone, four cards, and side games across every foursome at once.
Expenses & Settle Up
The part no round-tracking app is trying to solve.
Built for the trip, not the round
Free on iPhone. Bring the whole group — one code and they're in.
Download on the App StoreOn Android? We'll email you when your build is ready. One email, nothing else, ever.
