GolfSoftware.com wants to help you and your golf group build more group spirit with a logo and logo-based store.

Logos are important to organizations to build brand awareness and a sense of belonging. By having a logo, your members can show their affiliation to your group. Most people wear shirts with logos of some sort - why not make it yours! Click here to see some sample logos we've created.

GolfSoftware.com will develop a logo for your group and will then create an online store for your members to purchase whatever logo-based merchandise they would like.

And all of this is free for the first 50 to respond. After that, we will offer our design services for a modest fee. To find out more information and to get started, please contact us at marketing@golfsoftware.com.

Ghost Substitutes

The first five substitutes in the substitute list are the “Ghost Subs”. By default, each ghost sub is called “Ghost Sub”. But you can name each ghost sub anything you wish. For example, you could name a blind draw ghost “Blind Draw,” a ghost that shoots the leagues’ average “League Average,” a ghost that shoots the player’s average “Player’s Average” etc. To find out more about how to setup ghost subs in League Manager, choose one of the links below:

Video Tutorial for Ghost Substitutes

Ghost Subs (Online Tutorial)

Calculating a Handicap Based on Only One Score

Tournament Manager allows you to calculate a handicap for players using just one round. To handicap players:

1. On the Tools menu, click Automatically handicap players.
2. Select the method to use. Three methods of handicapping are available. See below.
3. Type in which flight to handicap or type “ALL" to calculate handicaps for all players.

To find out more about the systems that can be used (Scheid, Peoria, and System 36), select the link below:

Calculating a Handicap Based on One Score (Online Tutorial)

USGA and RCGA Handicap Calculation Modes

To change handicap calculation modes, click Setup menu and select Calculation Options.. Handicap System provides three calculation modes: USGA, RCGA and CUSTOM.  Drop the list box and select the appropriate mode.

1. USGA mode calculates an exact United States Golf Association handicap.  /span>
2. RCGA mode calculates an exact Royal Canadian Golf Association handicap.  Note: RCGA now refers to the "index" as "factor".  If you are using the RCGA mode, "factor" will replace the word "index".
3. CCUSTOM mode lets you set up your own handicap parameters.

Note: You can switch between USGA, RCGA, and CUSTOM calculation modes at any time. Switching handicap modes has no effect on scoring information, HS simply recalculates new handicaps based on the new setting.

To see more about how handicaps are calculated in each mode, visit the link below:

USGA and RCGA Handicap Modes (Online Tutorial)

Inserting Photos on a Page in Website Designer

Insert a Photo on a Web Page (Online Tutorial)

Working with Multiple Coordinators

Many groups want to utilize multiple administrators for their leagues and tournaments. To do this can be straightforward. First, realize that we designed our software for single administrators. Some groups want to have multiple administrators for various reasons, including separating responsibilities, running multiple tournaments or leagues at once, or just for the size of the tasks involved.

To work with multiple administrators, setup a schedule for rotating the data administration tasks. Since you cannot have multiple administrators working on the data at the same time, the schedule is important for data integrity.

To easily share data between administrators, use the Internet Backup and Restore feature (you can click the link at the end of this article for more help). Once an administrator is finished updating his/her data, he/she can backup to the Internet. The next administrator can then restore from the Internet and have the latest data. Communicating with each other via email is suggested so that you do not lose information. With a rotation schedule, the second administrator should only start working with the data once the first administrator has finished and notified the second that a backup was performed.

Using Backup and Restore (Online Tutorial)

Make your league or tournament site more useful and appealing.

Web Design Tip #1

Use whitespace. Web pages with loads of text and no whitespace make people move to another page.

Use white space to break up chunks of text. On web pages, always have space between paragraphs.

Finally, use healthy margins. This adds space to the right and left of the text section and draws the reader's eye to the text.

Web Design Tip #2

Related to whitespace is the readability of text. Whenever possible, limit the width of your text blocks to 12-15 words wide. According to research, this is the optimal width for a block of text and will reduce re-reading and be more comfortable for your site visitors.

Web Design Tip #3

Images. They help break up the monotony of text blocks, but they can be a problem if not implemented well. A whole bunch of pictures thrown onto a page may make a nice collage, but doesn't necessarily help your visitors as much as a thought-through layout.

If you have many images, consider using tables for formatting, and include captions under each image to give visitors a frame of reference for the picture (unless you have a self-explanatory cartoon or similar image).

Always get permission before placing a picture of someone on your site. Some people do not want to have their pictures in the public domain.

Thank you for your overwhelming support of our first Golf Bytes. We hope that it was as beneficial for you as it was for the many who responded.

We want Golf Bytes to be useful for you - to help you use our software, and to tell stories of what other people are doing with their leagues, tournaments, and groups. If you have suggestions, please let us know.

Please let us know if you have some suggestions for making this newsletter better and more useful to you: newsletter suggestions.

Thank you for reading Golf Bytes. If you would like to view prior issues, go to our newsletter archive page: http://golfsoftware.icontact.com/.

News

Regular Features

Software Shortcuts

Golf Fun

Scramble Reduction

Here is one of the most fun outings we do. It works well for a league fun night with four players per team and is for a nine hole event only.

We use a scramble format. All four players hit. As is typical in a scramble, the best shot is taken. Player A's shot is used. Player A then places a piece of blue painter’s tape on his club and he can no longer use that club for the rest of the round, nor can he use anyone else's club. The piece of blue tape is used for each shot/club that is used, including putters. It gets real interesting and players must think about different strategies.

The first time we tried it, guys were complaining, saying that it was going to be stupid, but at the end, all the foursomes coming off the ninth hole were laughing and had a great time. It does a couple of things:

1. It levels the play between good players and the not-so-good players.
2. There isn't a need to set up the foursomes by handicap.

You will need to purchase rolls of the blue tape, (I used blue tape because it's easy to remove), one each for each foursome, and make sure you collect the unused rolls for the next time. I usually don't tell the league what we’re doing because some guys will load their bags with several drivers. Only the normal 14 clubs are allowed. Try it - it's fun!

Do you have a particularly fun or unique way of running your league? Share with others here: League Links.

Great Tournament Ideas

Share your ideas with others!

Do you have suggestions for tournaments that you'd like to share? Submit them here: Tournament Tips.

Sycamore Seniors Golf League

They have personalized the site with pictures of players and used numerous reports to provide information to their players.

If you would like to have yours considered, please let us know: Site of the Month

“Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness.”

– William Wordsworth

“I regard golf as an expensive way of playing marbles.”

– G.K. Chesterton

“The older you get the stronger the wind gets.”

– Jack Nicklaus

Q: What's the best way to keep your sanity?

A: Never take up golf.