Frequently Asked Questions

Get ready to take your golf game to the next level with GolfNow Compete, the ultimate app for competitive golfers! The app allows golfers to compete in a variety of ways with experiences powered by hole-by-hole GPS, group scoring, live leaderboards, friendly wagers and more.

It’s never been easier to add the thrill of competition to each round, and bring your friends along for the ride! Learn more about all of GolfNow Compete’s offerings below.

GolfNow Compete allows you to connect with friends, compete against them and track your scoring and stats for all your rounds. We recommend taking advantage of Compete’s features by:

1. completing your profile with your favorite golf photo, bio and playing handicap–these aspects of your profile will be used for scorecards, leaderboards, invites and more
2. finding and adding friends that also use Compete, or inviting them to join Compete if they don’t already have an account
3. get familiar with the app navigation and features, especially the PLAY tab and COMPETE tab
   • when you are ready to score a round solo or with friends, you’ll launch Round Setup from the PLAY tab with the “Solo & Group Play” button
4. try out games and friendly wagers on your first round with friends, which will give a nice introduction to live scoring, live leaderboards and our post-round Podium and Payouts features

Download the GolfNow Compete app from the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android).

After downloading the app, you’ll go through a step-by-step device and account setup process. You’ll provide the basics like name and email address so we can get you into the app any playing right away.

Next, you can grant Location and Notification permissions to utilize the most-important features of Compete, and we’ll show a quick tutorial of all the key features.

Once your account has been created, and you’re into the app, you can go to the Account tab and tap “Edit Profile”. This allows you to manage everything from your profile picture to your playing handicap. Save your changes to complete your profile updates.

Head to your Account page, click on the Settings icon, and select “Find Friends”. You can search for friends by email or name. You can review your current friends in the “Friends” list on your Account page, too.

You can also access the Find Friends feature from the PLAY tab, by tapping the Friends icon in the top-left corner of the view.

If your friends don’t have a an account, they can create an account, or you can invite them to join Compete by sharing the download link at the bottom of the Find Friends feature. Once they’ve created an account, you can add them as a friend.

To remove a friend, go to Account > Friends and tap on the friend you want to remove. When their profile appears, tap the three dots in the top right corner, and select “Remove Friend”

Compete uses Invites to get you into the game with ease. When your friends or organizers send you an invite to a group round or competition, you’ll be notified with a red dot on the Invites button in the bottom navigation.

When you open the Invites view, you will see all the rounds and/or competitions that you have outstanding invites to, as well as Friend Requests. You can take action on all of your invitations here.

• accept or decline each friend request
• accept or decline an invite to a group round
• accept or decline an invite to a competition

You can invite users to Competitions by email, and they can set up a Compete account.

At this time, users must have a GolfNow Compete account to participate in live scoring for Group Rounds. You can invite them to join compete or send them a friend request in the app. You also have the option of adding a Guest to your group round, and the scorecard will be shared to the email of that guest if you’ve added it.

If you accidentally declined your invite, the Captain can cancel the current round and start a new round, sending new invites to all players.

On the PLAY tab, tap “Solo & Group Round”. You’ll be directed to the Round Setup view where you can select your course and tees, and launch your round. Compete will open to the Scorecard view, and you can tap “GPS” in the top-right corner. You’ll have access to GPS flyovers for every hole for over 30,000 courses, worldwide!

You can toggle between the Scorecard and GPS views at any time.

When you’re in the GPS view, you can update the golfers, games and wagers by opening the scoring tray (bottom of screen) and tapping “Modify Round”. You’ll see a summary of the golfers in your group on the Manage Golfers tab. You can also move to the Games & Wagers tab to add/edit/remove game(s) and wager(s).

Updates made to your round through the Modify Round feature will update scorecards and leaderboards automatically, and you can make changes to this at any time.

Be careful: removing golfers, games and wagers will delete the corresponding scoring/results data. You will have to re-add golfers, games and scoring entries if they are accidentally deleted in “Modify Round”.

You can update the Tee Selections of golfers in your group from the Manage Golfers tab of the “Modify Round” feature (see above) by tapping on the golfer’s avatar. You can also remove the golfer in that same menu.

For Guests, you can update their tee selection, and also edit profile information including: Name, Gender, Playing Handicap and Email Address.

Adding an email address ensures that the scorecard will be available for that golfer if they create an account with a matching email address.

Formats available in Compete

• Stroke play – the favorite format of professional golf. Every shot counts as you battle to see who can shoot the lowest score possible.
  • Gross or net
  • Low score wins
• Points
  • Gross or net
  • High score wins
  • Includes games like Stableford and Quota
• (Coming Soon) Match Play
  • The greatest duel in golf. Battle it out solo or in teams to see who can win the most holes.

Games available in Compete

• Medalist (standard play)
  • Low score for stroke play
  • Highest sum for points play
  • 9 Holes or all 18 holes
• Pentagon
  • Five games in one, giving you multiple chances to win the day. No more blown-up rounds from one bad hole. 
  • Games include: holes 1-6, holes 7-12, holes 13-18, par 3s, par 5s
• Hexagon
  • Six games to compete in – win one or win them all! All the fun of Pentagon plus a game for best 18-hole score.
  • Games include: holes 1-6, holes 7-12, holes 13-18, par 3s, par 5s, overall 18 holes
• Octagon
  • Eight games make the entire round exciting, including best overall scores for the front and back nine!
  • Games include: holes 1-6, holes 7-12, holes 13-18, par 3s, par 5s, front 9, back 9, overall 18 holes
• Nassau
  • An East Coast classic. Compete for the best score for the front nine, back nine, and overall 18 holes.
  • Games include: front 9, back 9, overall 18 holes
• Stableford (traditional)
  • Earn points for bogeys and better. The player with the most points at the end of the round wins the crown.
• (Coming Soon) Stableford (modified)
  • A pro twist on your favorite points game. Earn points for birdies or better, but lose points for bogeys and worse. Avoid those double bogeys! Pars don’t count for or against your score.
• (Coming Soon) Quota (traditional)
  • Your quota is your target. Reach that, and all points earned thereafter get you closer to the win.
• (Coming Soon) Quota (Chicago)
  • Chip away at your quota balance to reach zero, and start scoring from there. The player with the most points at the end of the day wins.
• (Coming Soon) Skins
  • Set a value for each skin and play your best. Win a skin for the lowest score on the hole. You can set tied holes to carry over and up the stakes, making everything a bit more interesting.

Good luck!

Some games are unavailable due to how you set up your round. You can review all Compete games and required setups in the Games Summary info.

Compete Challenge features are available in select U.S. states and select countries. For a complete list of regions where Challenges are available, see the Terms & Conditions.

Challenges are available in Casual-Competitive games, through the Play tab.

If the Round Captain added challenge(s) to your games, you’ll be prompted to Accept or Decline each of them when you join the round, through your Invites tab. You can accept or decline the challenges for each game that’s active on the round.

Challenges will appear on your Round Setup screen after you accept the group round invite. Challenges will be shown at the bottom of the screen near “Start Round”. You must accept or decline each challenge before you can begin the round.

You can create a Public, Private or Virtual Competition from the “Competitions” tab. Scroll to “Create Competition” to get started.

A Public Competition allows users to search for and find your competition by Title, or among competitions from a given location. Create a public competition if you want to open it up to all interested golfers. Public competitions can also be found using a “Join Code”, or Shared via text, link, or your other favorite sharing method.

A Private Competition is restricted to golfers that were invited by the organizer or another registrant if registrant-invites have been allowed by the organizer. Private Competitions are best if you have a specific group of golfers that should participate, and the competition will not appear in searches for competitions by title or location. Join Codes and Passwords are also available to share Private Competitions for golfer registration. You can find the Join Code and Password in the Competition Details if you are the organizer or are already registered for the event.

Private Competitions also allow playing at a “Virtual Course”. You can set up a competition and have each player select their own course, by choosing “Virtual Course” in the setup workflow. This allows you and your friends to Compete from anywhere, together!

You can set Handicap Scoring to Enabled in your Competition Setup. Then, you can assign what % Handicap everyone will receive. When you and other players join the competition, they will confirm the Handicap in their Profile is correct before starting play.

Handicaps will be displayed in Leaderboards and Player Registration throughout the Competition. Users will also see which holes they “receive strokes” or “lose strokes” on their personal scorecard.

Entry Fees are managed by the event organizer. The organizer is responsible for establishing and collecting entry fees from each player when they’re active in a competition.

Go to Account > Settings (top right) > My Competitions – there, you can view results for all past competitions you’ve hosted or participated in

On the homepage (Compete tab) you will see Nearby Competitions at the top of the page. You can also search for Competitions at specific locations, entry fees, dates, and more by tapping the “Find Competitions” link or magnifying glass icon.

Have a Competition Code from a friend or organizer? Type or paste the code into the Competition Code field and hit “Search”.

Please work with the Competition Organizer to pay your entry fees. Payments for entry fees are not possible in the Compete app at this time.

No. You need to book your tee time separately from joining the competition, and paying entry fees if they’re applicable. Please check with your competition organizer if you have questions about booking tee times for your event.

When you open the competition, you’re reviewing the Competition Details. There, you’ll find Rules & Information from the organizer, the Entry Fee if applicable, information on the scoring format, the leaderboard and a list of invitees and registrants.

Some information about the competition may only be available from your organizer, so be sure to connect with them with any questions.

Make sure to Start Round for the Competition before the event end-time. This will allow you to complete scoring within an hour of the official event end-time.

Your friend, or another entrant, can provide the competition password or they can invite you using the Invite Golfers feature in the Competition Details. Some competitions do not allow anyone except the owner/organizer to invite additional golfers, so check with your organizer if you think that might be the case.

Registering for a Competition is separate from booking your tee times. Please book your tee time through GolfNow or your event provider.

Your playing Handicap is managed in your Compete Profile, and you can update it through the “Edit Profile” feature in “Account”.

Compete doesn’t calculate your Handicap at this time. You will need to make sure your Handicap is correct before playing in Net Scoring events. Compete will ask you to confirm your Handicap is correct before starting each Competition round.

Golfers can be disqualified from competition for not completing their scoring in time, or disqualified at the discretion of the event organizer. Please contact your event organizer if you believe you’ve been disqualified in error.

You can cancel a competition by going to Competition Details, tapping on “More”, and selecting “Cancel Competition”.

The best place to review your stats is in the Compete Web companion, on the “Stats” dashboard, but you can also review them in the app on the “Stats” tab.

Every time you track stats for your round accuracy and putting, you’re adding to your Compete Stats & Scoring History. You can review stats for 18 Hole rounds or 9 Hole rounds by going to the Stats page in the bottom navigation. The following stats are available for assessing your performance, with more to come:
– Average Score to Par for Birdie or Better, Pay, Bogey, or Double or Worse
– Average Strokes for Par 3s, Par 4s and Par 5s
– Accuracy tee to green with average Fairways Hit % and Green in Regulation (GIR) Hit %
– Putting performance with Average Putts per Hole and Average Putts per Round

This is available in the app from the “Stats” tab and in the web companion in your “Stats” dashboard.

Each record in the Round History is linked to the scorecards, games and challenges of all players from that round.

At this time scores posted in the app will show day of input as date of play. Keep an eye out for upcoming changes to posting scores that will allow more flexibility in Date of Play.

Our web companion, however, at compete.golfnow.com allows you to post a score for any past date/current date of your choosing. Please log into the web companion with your standard GN Compete credentials and navigate to “Add a Past Round” beneath Stats & Scoring. The saved round will appear in your scoring and stats on the web companion and app.

Go to Account > Settings (top right) > Privacy > Privacy Settings – here you can manage how you appear to other users in the Compete app across Search, Invites, scoring and more.

You can review Privacy links and information through Account > Settings > Privacy

You can review Terms of Use links and information through Account > Settings > Terms of Use