Frequently Asked Questions

GroupLooper

• What makes GroupLooper unique?

  The short answer… an OBSESSIVE focus on making golf more FUN, more CONVENIENT and more AFFORDABLE.

  The long answer… ok, you asked for it.

  There are LOTS of discount tee time services that focus simply on helping you find cheap rounds of golf.

  There are quite a few services that run tournaments for golfers who want to compete.

  Some of those services are quite helpful for certain golfers, and GroupLooper will make it easy for you to connect to them.

  But, as we developed the launch plan for GroupLooper we were unable to find any services that focused on the core problem that prevents most golfers from playing more golf… helping them quickly and easily put together a foursome to play when they want, where they want with whomever they want. Most other golf services assume that all of this heavy lifting is done before you arrive at their web site to book a round, but those of us who golf know that someone somewhere usually spends an hour or two e-mailing, texting, calling, etc. to get a round of golf set up. That’s a big deterrent.

  In the places where a convenient scheduling solution does exist… the private golf and country clubs… the scheduling tools are locked in to a single club facility and require payment of substantial annual membership fees… out of the affordability reach for many golfers.

  Meanwhile, most of the discount sites are heavily oriented towards courses in the bottom half of the price range. Many higher end courses simply won’t participate in these discount programs. They don’t want to sell their product for a bargain basement price…even if it’s only done for a portion of their tee times it ruins their pricing structure.

  GroupLooper starts with a focus on helping an individual golfer to a more FUN, more CONVENIENT, more AFFORDABLE experience.

  We think a big part of having more FUN for many golfers is playing with people they enjoy being with. If you’re going to spend 4-5 hours on a golf course you want to be with people whose company you enjoy. So, we’ve made it easy for golfers to self-organize into Networks. A Network could be a group of friends… it could be all the Season Pass holders at a particular golf course… it could be a group of employees from the same company… it could be an affinity group of professionals from the same industry or discipline, etc. An individual golfer might belong to several Networks… each one providing an important component of that individual’s golfing experience.

  Another big part of having more FUN for many golfers is playing a variety of different golf courses. Sure, some people are satisfied playing the same track all the time, but a lot of us find the infinite variety that golf offers a big part of the appeal. Most Metro areas have well over 100 golf courses… for example, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro has about 215 golf courses within a 50 mile radius of downtown Minneapolis. There are almost 17,000 golf courses in the US, and 36,000 on the planet (we do not have an accurate count of extra-terrestrial courses… we know there’s one on the Moon, but beyond that it’s unclear). None of us will ever play them all, but if you’re interested in finding some new courses to broaden your golfing experience we can help you find what you’re looking for. Our golf course directory has helpful data you simply won’t find consolidated anywhere else.

  There are other aspects to our services that can lead to more FUN for you… for example, GroupLooper lets you maintain your Played List of every golf course you’ve ever played and enables you to compare it to those of your golf buddies. We’re constantly on the lookout for unusual experiences that will enable you to have more FUN when you head to the golf course.

  Our focus on helping you have a more CONVENIENT experience has a couple aspects. First, we give you a one stop shop to organize all of your golfing activities… think of it as your personal tee sheet. Second, we bend over backwards to save you a few seconds here, a few minutes there… we’re obsessed with making the process of scheduling a tee time more efficient all the time. Our vision for golf scheduling is simple… all you should have to do is say when you have time to play and GroupLooper should do the rest… finding you a tee time at a course you’ve marked as a favorite/wish list course, pairing you with favorite/compatible playing partners who are available at the same time… and delivering the updates right into your calendar. We’ve already got the slickest scheduling service around, and we’ve got a list of improvements that we’re working on that just won’t quit.

  As for AFFORDABILITY, well… that’s really in the eye of the beholder isn’t it? Whether you’re a $20/round player or looking to play the finest golf courses on earth, we can help you get the most bang for your buck. Our golfbot Dealbert scans golf course web sites, discount tee time sites, etc. and then consolidates the best deals in a logical set of categories. Many golf courses also offer special promotions targeted at individual Networks… maybe your groups will attract some of those.

  When you look at the services that we offer, remember that we’re adding more capabilities to GroupLooper all the time… if there’s something you think GroupLooper could do to make golf even more fun, convenient or affordable… let us know by sending an email to support@grouplooper.com.

• What was the inspiration for creating GroupLooper?

  The inventor of GroupLooper was looking for a golf experience that was more fun, more convenient and more affordable.

  He wanted to play more golf with friends and colleagues… not just the random people who happened to have joined the same country club.

  He wanted to play a wider variety of courses… long ones, short ones, hard ones, easy ones, beautiful ones in serene settings, cleverly designed ones crammed into urban spaces, etc. For him, a big part of the appeal of golf was its infinite variety. As he studied the opportunity, he was amazed to learn that there were 225 golf courses in the Metro Area where he lived and more than 400 within day trip distance, and he had only played on a small fraction of them.

  He was frustrated with the fact that there were many days when he was ready, willing and able to play a round of golf but wound up not playing because it was too hard to organize a foursome to play. The 1-2 hours of phone calls, text message, e-mails, etc. that it took to get a foursome together was a big deterrent and he knew there had to be a better way. We’re all busy… it’s not easy to find 4+ hours to hide away on the golf course… and when we do have the time we need to make it way easier to take advantage of it.

  He was willing to pay a reasonable fee for playing on nice courses but wanted to have easy access to special offers that high quality courses were making to improve affordability.

  Once he got into it and realized that to have the experience he wanted he was going to have to create it, he decided to go the extra mile and build a service that not only enabled him to enjoy golf the way he wanted to, but also to enable any golfer anywhere to have access to the same service.

  As he studied the situation more, he also learned that the golf industry has been in a steady decline for over a decade with the number of rounds of golf shrinking every year… so part of the mission became to make a contribution to turning the growth curve around.

  GroupLooper’s mission is simple… to make golf more FUN, more CONVENIENT and more AFFORDABLE so MORE PEOPLE PLAY MORE GOLF!

  We expect the fun, convenience and affordability provided by GroupLooper will result in our users playing an average of about 10 additional rounds per year…. that’s another 40 hours of fun for the golfer and another 10 rounds of revenue for the golf industry… win-win all the way!

• What does it cost to use GroupLooper?

  For individuals who use basic GroupLooper services at www.grouplooper.com, we’ll borrow a riff from Facebook and say “it’s free… and it probably always will be.”

  GroupLooper powers a wide variety of sites for golfers that include a wide range of membership services. Some of these services require one-time fees and/or annual fees. These membership programs typically include access to special playing opportunities or discounts on rounds of golf at certain courses, some of which can be purchased directly through GroupLooper.

• What can GroupLooper do for me?

  GroupLooper is every golfer’s best friend… the ultimate golf concierge that combines information about Golfers, Golf Courses, Tee Times and Special Offers in zillions of ways all with an obsessive focus on making your golf experience more FUN, more CONVENIENT and more AFFORDABLE.

  GroupLooper hangs out 24/7 at www.grouplooper.com and whether you play a couple times a year or 100+ rounds a year, GroupLooper can help you.

  Services that you can access are:
  Networks – join an existing network of like-minded golfers or create your own… each network is a virtual golf & country club

  Dashboard – here’s where GroupLooper keeps a reminder of all of your upcoming tee times, recent messages from other members and a link to the handicap system

  Tee Times – the heart of GroupLooper is the sophisticated tee time scheduling system; organize your own tee times and invite other players or join tee times initiated by other members… what used to be a complicated, time-consuming process is now a snap

  Courses – our golf course database contains every golf course in the world (it’s the most complete online directory we’re aware of). Search courses based on location, name and lots of other criteria (e.g., slope rating). Access an amazing variety of information and if you’re looking for more, we link you directly to the branded website for each course.

  Members – maintain your own profile and view profiles of other members’ of your network(s). Want to find other mid-teen handicappers? Want to know which of your fellow members has played a course that you’re thinking of trying? Want to engage in a friendly competition to see who has played the most courses? It’s all there.

  Deals – GroupLooper’s tireless golfbot Dealbert scours golf course websites around the clock and puts information about thousands of special offers at your fingertips to answer questions like… where in my area can I play a free birthday round? where do I qualify for a senior rate? where do my kids qualify for junior rates? what time do I have to tee off to qualify for a twilight rate? where can I go to listen to music after my round of golf? etc… etc… etc. Access to Deals information is offered to all GroupLooper PRO subscribers.

  GroupLooper blogs/tweets/etc. are also available for your reading and viewing pleasure.

  And if that’s not enough, stay tuned… we regularly add more golfer-friendly features.

• What the heck is a GroupLooper?

  GroupLooper is a crazily versatile app for golfers that is specifically designed to make golf more fun, more convenient and more affordable.

  It’s a golfer-centric app that provides golfers with a time-saving tool for keeping track of anything and everything relating to their upcoming and past tee times.

  The only way to fully understand GroupLooper is to use its features, but there is a brief Features Tour on the home page of www.grouplooper.com that gives you an idea of some of its fun-creating, time-saving, money-saving features. These FAQs also provide answers to a lot of questions that users have asked in the past.

  Many golfers will experience GroupLooper as part of a broader, branded service such as the Public Country Club, where a white label version of GroupLooper provides PCC members with a convenient way to keep track of their participation in club activities and is integrated with other club services such as a Facebook page, GHIN handicap services, etc.

Networks

• What are the differences between networks?

  Every network is unique… we wouldn’t pretend to be able to describe them as well as their BDs can. Go to Networks/Browse Networks, select a Network you’re interested in and go to View Details. That should tell you all you need to know about any particular Network.

  And… if you can’t find something that appeals to you, you’re always free to create your own network with the exact golfing experience you’re looking for… then invite everyone who you’d like to join you.

  If you’ve heard about a Network that you can’t seem to find, it’s possible that it’s a “Stealth” network that is hidden from public view… sort of like an exclusive private country club in a gated community. The only way to get inside those private worlds is to know a member who can teach you the ropes.

• What is a Network?

  It’s a golf & country club, but with a twist.

  Traditionally a golf and country club has been defined by a golf course… with members ‘joining’ the golf course/club.

  In our world, Networks may or may not revolve around a single course.

  Networks are golfer-centric… all you need is some people who like to play golf together. The golfers can define the exact golf experience that they want.

  Networks can be sponsored by any organization (including a golf course) or by any individual.

  If you think you want to create a Network, send an email to support@grouplooper.com.

• If I want to join an invitation-only network, is there a way to submit a request?

  It’s easy.

  Go to the description page for the Network you’re interested in (Networks/Browse Networks and then select the Network you want). On the details page, there is a button that enables you to send a message to the Organizer. Some Networks are super private and may not be open to new members from outside their inner circle, but many Networks are on the lookout for compatible golfers. If you don’t get a response the first time, it’s ok to try again, but please don’t become a Network Stalker.

• How do I join a Network?

  On our desktop site, select Network and then select Browse Networks.

  Find a Network you want to join.

  If it’s a Public Network, you’ll be able to join by accepting the terms and conditions.

  If it’s a Private Network, you’ll need an Invitation to join the network. If you’ve received an Invitation, the invitation will contain a link that’ll take you to the enrollment page. If you haven’t received an invitation, you can send a message to the Network BD from the View Details page requesting information on how to become a member.

• Can I belong to more than one Network?

  Absolutely… as many as you want.

  Many users belong to multiple networks, representing different social circles… home course season pass holders, an alumni group, a neighborhood friends group, etc.

• Can I invite other people to join my network(s)?

  It depends.

  If your BD has set your network with invitations allowed, then you can issue a Network Invitation to anyone who you’d like to have join the Network.

  From your Dashboard, use the “Invite Friends” button in the upper right portion of the page. You need to know the e-mail address of the person you’d like to invite. You can also add a personalized message. The people you invite do not need to already be registered in GroupLooper (but it’s ok if they are).

  You can issue as many invitations as you want. If you want each invitation to have a unique personalized message, issue them one at a time. If you want to use the same message on each, use the “Invite Multiple Members” button and you can then enter your list of e-mail addresses. When sending multiple invitations with a single send, we recommend limiting your list to 50 e-mails or less or there’s a possibility that your message will time out.

• What if I join a network and want to get out?

  It’s easy.

  On the desktop version of GroupLooper, go to Networks/Manage Networks. From there, you can choose to leave any Network as long as you’re not the BD.

  If you want to leave a network that you created and are the BD for, we don’t currently have a self-serve path to remove yourself. Send us a Feedback button note, tell us what you’re trying to accomplish and we’ll give you a hand.

• Who controls membership rules for Networks?

  Every Network is managed by an Organizer, who must be a registered GroupLooper user.

  The Organizer is authorized by Apparation LLC Support and has the following powers/responsibilities:

  Define the Network Identity
  1. Create/change the official NAME for the Network.
  2. Create/change the official MOTTO for the Network (printed below Network Name on many pages)
  3. Create/change the DETAILED DESCRIPTION of the Network that is viewed in Browse Networks

  Determine the Privacy Level for the Network
  1. Classify the network as OPEN (any GroupLooper user can join) or CLOSED (invitation required)
  2. If the network is CLOSED, determine whether a) only the Organizer can invite new members or b) any member can invite new members
  3. Determine whether the Network will be a ‘stealth’ network (not appearing on the Browse Networks page in GroupLooper).

  Manage Deal Visibility
  1. Each Network Organizer can determine the extent to which Golf Courses and other registered Merchants can offer special deals to Network members.

  Assign Affiliate Golf Courses
  1. Maintain the list of Affiliate Courses that the Network has a special relationship with.

  Remove Members
  1. The BD has the authority to remove members from the Network. If, for example, the Network is meant to be for employees of a particular company and a member of the Network no longer works for the company, the Organizer is able to remove the member.

  The Organizer has ultimate authority to perform these functions. A BD also has the ability to authorize other users to perform all administrative functions for the Network except to change the list of administrators.

• Can I create a new Network?

  Maybe.

  If you have a relatively small group of golfers (under 50) and plan to use GroupLooper simply to invite others to tee times and to send simple messages to your playing partners, we recommend that you set up a Group to handle your needs (see FAQs about Groups). You will have complete control over who is in your Group and your fellow Group members can access the information to send out invitations of their own.

  If you have a larger group (>50) or have some specialized needs such as wanting to charge a membership fee or if you have special negotiated rates with certain golf courses, then a Network is for you and you can contact us at support@grouplooper.com for some help in setting up a Network. There will be a monthly fee associated with operating a network… the fee is dependent on the type of network you’re operating and the number of members you have.

  We used to allow people to set up their own Networks, but you can imagine what happened… GroupLooper was clogged with Networks that had one or two members and were abandoned. We want to avoid that clutter. Now we put a throttle on the creation of new Networks to ensure that they are only created when they will create value for a large group of users.

• Can a Network Administrator add members to a Network?

  Network administrators may add members in two ways:

  1) Bulk Enrollment – There are situations where a Network Organizer already has an established group of golfers and wants to bulk enroll them in GroupLooper. For example, a golf course operator may want to create a Network for all of its season pass holders or player’s card members. In these cases, the Organizer can contact support@grouplooper.com and request a bulk load of its members. If the Organizer provides email address, first name, last name and zip code for each member, we can auto register them in GroupLooper and enroll them in the Network.

  2) Individual Members – Network Administrators may add individual members from the administrative dashboard (Members tab), using the +Add button. This option is only available for Networks that are using one of the premium service models that includes monthly or annual support payments (e.g. CloudClubhouse, Digital Golf Card). If you are a network administrator that wants this capability but doesn’t currently have it, send a message to support@grouplooper.com to get details.

Member Profiles

• Do I have to fill out a complete member profile?

  No.

  When you register, we do require you to give us a little bit of information… first name/last name, e-mail address, zip code and number of rounds played last year. That’s the minimum we need to provide you with basic services, to enable you to participate in a Network and to gauge whether we’ve actually helped you to get to the 1st tee more often.

  The rest of the information in the Profile is intended to enhance your experience, either by enabling our software to serve you better and/or by enabling members to find compatible playing partners.

  The rationale for including certain bits of profile information is detailed in a number of other FAQs in this Member Profile section… each item we ask for has a specific purpose in enabling GroupLooper to better serve you and/or to be helpful to your prospective playing partners.

  And remember… the only people who can view information from your profile are other members of the Networks you belong to or people who you decide you’re going to play a round of golf with.

• Too many people already have my phone number... why do I need to add it here?

  We currently send messages by email and in-app notifications only, but down the road we’re preparing to send messages to users via texts if they prefer to receive their information that way.

  We give you the option of whether or not your phone number will be visible to other GroupLooper users, so just because your phone number is in the system doesn’t mean it will be shared with others. Use the privacy settings in your Profile to hide your phone number from prying eyes… and in that case the only reason we’d ever use your phone number would be to send you text messages based on your system activity (e.g., tee time reminders, changes to your upcoming tee times).

• I'm not sure I'm comfortable entering my street address. Why do you want that?

  Your street address is never displayed anywhere on the site where other users can see it.

  Your city/state is displayed in your profile, to enable users to find players that live in their area.

  We use your address in the background to calculate distances for certain functions and can use this information to make it more convenient for you to find courses close to your home and/or to get directions to golf facilities.

  If you really have an aversion to entering your home address, we’d recommend that you at least enter city/state.

  We do not currently have the ability to store multiple addresses for a member (office, vacation home, etc.)… maybe someday.

• What's the idea behind the Golf Stories section of the Member Profile?

  Anyone who has spent any significant time on golf courses has seen or heard some memorable stuff. Here’s you chance to share your favorite golf-related experiences in a fun way…. and to get the benefit of what others have experienced.

  If every member puts a cryptic description of their favorite golf stories in their profile (and updates it every once in awhile as new inanity occurs on the course), then you can have some fun in two ways:

  Before you play a round with someone new or someone you haven’t seen in awhile, you can check their profile and pick up a few line items from their Favorite Stories section… as your’e walking down the fairway, waiting for the group in front to clear the green or having a bump in the bar after the round, you can say… “Hey, I’ve never heard your story about the runaway elephant… what’s that all about?” You’ll probably still be laughing when you go to hit your next shot.

  Likewise, you might find that one of your playing partners has done their homework and prompts you to tell one of your best stories… rather than having to chase them down the fairway panting “Hey, did I ever tell you the one about the greatest flop shot ever” you have an audience requesting your greatest hits… priceless!

  Have some fun with this.

• What should I include in the About Me section of my profile?

  This is a completely free form, so let your creative juices flow.

  We do have a few suggestions:

  Make it this primarily your ‘golf bio’, not your life bio… no need to recreate what’s in LinkedIn or Facebook or other social networks… soon we’ll be giving people the opportunity to link to those profiles so there will be no need to replicate.

  Think about what you’d find most helpful to know if you were another member trying to understand whether you were a compatible golfing partner.

  Brevity is the soul of wit… no Russian novels, please.

  And help each other out… if you read the profile of a friend and they’ve left out something that you think makes them an interesting playing partner/friend, point it out to them and maybe they’ll decide to add it to their profile.

• You want my date of birth? You're kind of nosy.

  We’re not really nosy… but we can make good use of this data to help you find age-related discounts (e.g., where do you qualify for a junior rate, a senior rate, a discounted golf club membership, etc.) and to notify you of upcoming birthday round opportunities. All of those things can save you serious money.

  We can also add a little fun… want to know which members share your birth sign? Want to play a golf course that was opened in the year of your birth?

  We can also use composite data to provide information such as average age of a Network to enable people thinking of joining to assess compatibility… and to assist Network managers to manage their membership mix.

  Individual members might find this information useful as they seek out playing partners. Maybe a younger member is looking to benefit from the wisdom of experience… maybe a more senior member likes to stay young by spending some quality time with some younger people… maybe a member only wants to play with people in their own age bracket… etc.

  You don’t have to enter your date of birth, but if you do, please remember that golf is a game of honesty and integrity… no fudging on this one.

• Why should I enter my Club Memberships? Aren't my Networks supposed to be my clubs?

  Well, yeah… each of your Networks is actually a virtual golf club… many of them are invitation only… and some are actually sponsored by golf courses.

  But, letting your fellow members know which physical clubs you belong to can be important information.

  For example, some Networks are made up exclusively of people who belong to private country clubs and they use their Network as a way to broker individual reciprocal arrangements to play at each others’ clubs (e.g., Land of 10,000 Links). It’s a great way to leverage your private club membership without having to know someone at every other club where you want to play.

  Many Network members play much of their golf at a ‘home course’ where they may buy a season pass or a patron card… it’s helpful for other members to know that so they know who’s knowledgable about that course.

  This is an honor system… there’s nothing preventing you from saying that you’re a member of Augusta National, but your fellow golfers will probably smell out any fraudulent membership activity pretty quickly and then the only invitations you’ll be receiving to play will be at the local pitch ‘n’ putt… don’t head down that path.

• Do people really enter nicknames?

  Maybe you like the way your given name rolls off the tongue and you don’t want to mess it up with a nickname. On the other hand, if you don’t give yourself a nickname, your golf buddies probably will so here’s your chance to have a little influence on the result.

  Have some fun with this… after all, this is how:
  Eldrick became Tiger
  Gerry Lester Watson became “Bubba Long”
  Phil became Lefty (even though he’s really right handed)
  Samuel became Slammin’ Sammy
  Arnold became The King
  Rory became BMW (The Ultimate Driving Machine)

  Does Jordan Spieth have a nickname yet?

• Why do you want my picture? I'm a little camera shy.

  Your picture is there for your fellow members, so they can make comments like:

  “Oh yeah, that’s the guy I saw fling his 5 iron into the lake in front of the 6th tee after dumping 4 balls in a row in there… he’s got quite an impressive arm.”

  OR

  “Hey, there’s the young lady we saw doing the Watusi and screaming “I broke 100” after sinking a long putt on the 18th green last week."

  OR

  “Wow, who’s Robert trying to fool? That picture must be at least 10 years old… he hasn’t been that svelte in ages.”

  OR

  “That guy is a 9 handicap? Yeah, right!”

  And, you can have similar experiences when you’re looking at other people’s pictures.

  Come on, join the fun. This won’t hurt a bit.

• I'm having a hard time figuring out what to put in the Maximum Green Fee That I'll Pay field... it depends on a lot of factors.

  Yeah, we know ‘it depends’. People vacationing in Hawaii may be willing to pay a green fee level that they wouldn’t even consider paying at home… and even people who play mostly mid-priced rounds might splurge every once in awhile.

  We’re simply seeking some measure of your green fee comfort zone…. it’s good info for other members to be able to have so they are sending you invitations that are relevant.

• Why do you care what age I learned to play golf?

  We just thought it might be an interesting thing for your fellow members to know… and for you to know about your fellow members.

  We did see an interesting study recently that showed that there was a higher correlation between a player’s handicap and the age they learned to play than there is with athletic ability or frequency of play. That doesn’t mean that golfers taking the game up as an adult should give up, but it does help to explain why golf can be frustrating to learn.

• Who can see my profile?

  Anyone who is a member of a Network that you belong to can see your profile. Likewise, you can see the profiles of all of the other members of your Networks.

• SI - What's that?

  SI is a measure of a golfer’s propensity to play with different players as opposed to playing with the same group all the time.

  We like to call it your Swinger Index, but if you prefer you can call it your Social Index.

  GroupLooper calculates your SI by counting the number of different individuals who you have played golf with in your tee times.

  The SI provides useful information about playing habits.

  For example, someone with a high SI is probably used to playing with new playing partners and may be more receptive to invitations to play by people who they haven’t played with before.

  Comparing your own SI to those of others in any Network you belong to can give you an idea of your compatibility with the group.

  If you have an interest in increasing your SI, there are two easy ways to do that:
  – Start organizing tee times and inviting new playing partners
  – Use the Join a Tee Time function to seek open slots in foursomes with new partners.

• Why do you want to know how many rounds I intend to play this year? Isn't it more important to know how many I actually play?

  We’re simply trying to help you meet your objectives, and we’re also trying to make things more convenient for you.

  While we don’t use this information today for anything more than a benchmark, there are all sorts of ways we might use this data in the future to support your efforts.

  For example, if a member lives in Minnesota, intends to play 20 rounds and has only played 5 as of August 1 maybe we’ll begin to proactively push more playing invitations their way.

  Or, if a member says they only intend to play 5 times this year, other member of their Network will know to pick their spots when sending that person invitations to play, and won’t count on a high hit rate of acceptances.

  We also think this information is useful for you in managing your own game… by having to actually think about how many rounds you want to play and committing it to your profile, you might be more proactive in managing yourself towards your goal.

  Hopefully, your non-golfer significant other won’t swipe your GroupLooper password and change this to 0!

• I don't have an official handicap. Should I enter something to indicate the level of my game?

  If you don’t carry an official handicap, you’re in the majority… 80+% of golfers fall into that category.

  Once you start entering scores, we’ll calculate your OPA (over par average) and included it in your profile… so there’s no need for you to enter something in the Handicap field if you don’t have an official USGA handicap.

• Why do I have to enter my handicap? Can't you just get it from the handicap system?

  Someday we will… in the meantime we are offering users the opportunity to enter this information.

  It’s the single most asked for piece of data by other golfers searching for playing partners. Some people will use it to limit the people they’re willing to play with… others just want to have a heads up.

  We don’t use your handicap index for anything today other than to display it in your profile, but someday we might use it as one more aid in helping people find compatible playing partners or to automate scoring of tournaments/games.

  If you have qualms about entering it, you really shouldn’t… if you do wind up playing with someone they’ll know how good a player you are by the time you’re done with the 2nd hole… or if they’re really curious they can go access the GHIN system and look it up before the round.

• OPA - What's that?

  It’s your “Over Par Average”… kind of a simplified version of a golf handicap.

  We calculate OPA by taking the last 10 rounds for which you’ve entered scores, throwing out the highest over par and the lowest over par (or most under par), and calculating the average number of strokes over par based on 18 holes.

  Why did we create OPA?

  Only about 20% of all golfers carry an official USGA handicap, but many of the other 80% want to occasionally play in a friendly contest where scores are adjusted for skill level. OPA can be used on those occasions.

• CPI - What's that?

  CPI is your Courses Played Index… the number of different courses you’ve played.

  Since it is a measure of your penchant for playing around or for being unfaithful to your home course… some users like to call it your Course Promiscuity Index (:

  If you participate in a tee time and the course wasn’t previously included in your CPI, we’ll automatically add it to your played list the night after you play.

  If you want your CPI to reflect every course you can ever remember playing, you can look up a course, push the Played button, and that course will be added to your Played List and CPI. Or, you can use the “Add a Round” option from the OPA section of your dashboard and enter the Course, the date you played and your score.

  Many golfers enjoy comparing notes on which courses they have played… it can be a great source of discussion, debate and fun.

  Members of networks can view each others Played Lists and CPIs. You can use Played List data to assist you in scheduling rounds of golf. For example, if you’re playing a new course you might want to invite some other members who have played the course before so you know what’s lurking around that next dogleg. Or, if you want to show off one of your favorite courses you can invite some members who haven’t played it before. Etc…

  You can also use the Compare Played List function on the mobile site to compare their Played List with that of any other user who you are allowed to connect to Try it… it’s fun.

• Why do I need to provide my email, name, zip code and rounds played last year when I register even if I'm not going to join a network?

  We thought long and hard and narrowed our required information down to this bare minimum, based on the following rationale:

  Email address
  If you register with our site, we need to be able to communicate with you… we chose email as our standard form of communication.. it’ll also come in handy if/when you join a Network as most golf courses will require an e-mail address to accompany an online tee time booking request.

  You have the option of ‘hiding’ your e-mail address so it doesn’t show up in your profile if you’d prefer not to give other members access to that information.

  Name
  Ok, we were a little selfish on this one… I guess we could refer to you as anonymousgolfer@hotmail.com but really… if another golfer wants to think about inviting you to join their Network don’t you think it’s fair for them to at least know your name. Otherwise, how will we introduce you on the first tee or at the trophy ceremony when you win your Network Championship?

  Zip Code
  Zip code searches are an easy way for us to present you with golf course and golf partner options that are relevant for you.

  Rounds Played Last Year
  Our goal is to help you play more golf… we figure if we’re making golf more fun, more convenient and more affordable for you, you’ll play more golf. So… this is a benchmark for us to use in looking back over time and determining whether we’ve made progress together. Of course, we have no way of verifying this number, and we know that many people don’t know the exact answer to this question… just give us your best estimate.

• What are the tee time/visibility items in my profile for?

  When you go to create a new tee time, we auto-fill the Course Name with your Home Course/Tee Time Default. You can change that to any other golf course, but if most of your golf is played at a home course we figure this will save you some time.

  When you create a tee time, the Visibility attribute determines who else is going to be able to see and join your tee time. We’ll pre-fill the Visibility with your Default, but you can change it on any individual new tee time. Private tee times may only be seen/joined by the people who you’ve explicitly invited to play (or that your invitees have invited). Public tee times may be seen/joined by any user. If a Network Name is used in the Visibility field, only members of that Network and individuals who have been explicitly invited may see/join the tee time.

Courses

• Why would I look here for course information rather than going to the golf course's own website or to another directory?

  We realize there is a lot of golf course information accessible through the Internet and we are trying to complement, rather than replace, other sources.

  Our focus is to be best in breed at the following things:

  1. Helping users find information that helps them decide where they want to play their next round…we offer a variety of search criteria to assist with this:
  – Location-based search (zip code, city/state, Metro Area)
  – Rate based search (e.g., green fee within a certain range)
  – Difficulty based search (e.g., slope within a certain range)
  – Facility type (e.g., public/private switch enables you to limit your searches to one or the other)

  We’ll be adding more search criteria over time as users express their preferences… we’re trying to walk the fine line between offering more options and keeping things simple to use.

  2. Enabling users to share golf course experiences and preferences… which members have played which courses… likes… dislikes… concise reviews of courses by people you know and trust.

  We also provide links to other sources of information that you might find useful:

  Course websites are the definitive source of information about any individual course. While we try to ensure that our information is of the highest quality, it’s impossible to guarantee accuracy or completeness so we make it easy for you to link directly to the golf course’s web site to verify information or to dig deeper.

  Other golf course directories might offer information that we don’t (e.g., golf course GPS devices offer detailed map information) and we encourage their use.

• How current/accurate is the golf course information in the Course Directory?

  We think it’s as timely and accurate as any golf course directory that you can access, but we know it’s not perfect.

  The process we use to create and maintain the data for each course has 3 key elements:

  1. We rely as much as possible on the golf course websites for data, since the courses are typically the most current, accurate source.

  2. We participate in a consortium called The IGDB (Internet Golf Course Database), that ensures that all courses in the US are updated at least once per year. We try to time those updates so that the data is as fresh as possible. For example, we update USA Upper Midwest courses in April, since most courses in that area have updated their sites prior to the launch of the spring golf season.

  3. Our data is updated by a relatively small group of trained researchers, so our process is consistent.

  We’re always looking for ways to improve both our data and our process; if you have suggestions or find errors that need correcting, please let us know via the Feedback button that appears on the side of most web pages.

• Why are certain courses pre-selected when I search Courses?

  On the desktop version, the default selection will be all courses within 50 miles of your home Zip Code.

  On mobile, the default selection is all courses within 50 miles of your current location (if location services are enabled); else within 50 miles of your home Zip Code.

  If you want to change the Location or hone in on certain courses, change the Course filters. If you remove all filters, all Open courses (Public and Private) will be displayed regardless of Location.

• What courses are included in the Course directory?

  Our objective is to provide an authoritative source of information on every golf course on planet Earth.

  These include par 3s, executive courses and regulation length courses. We don’t include miniature golf courses, disc golf courses or standalone practice ranges (maybe someday).

• How do I add or remove courses from my Played List? Favorites List? Wish List?

  For any course that you want to add or remove from one of your lists, use the Course Search on either desktop or mobile GroupLooper and select a course that you have played.

  On the Course Detail page, there is an on/off button for each of your 3 lists that will add or remove the course from each list.

• Can I view the Played List, Favorites List and Wish List of other users?

  You can view the Played List of any user that is a member of at least one of your Networks. Use the Member Directory to access the user’s profile, where the Played List can be displayed.

  You can also use the Compare Played Lists feature on the Mobile site and do a detailed comparison of your played list with that of any other user who is either a member of one of your Networks or who has their Privacy settings set so that you can invite them to a tee time.

  There is currently no way for you to view the Favorite/Wish Lists of other users… we’ll enable that someday.

• What if I know of a golf course that isn't in the course directory?

  Horrors!!! We missed one?

  We greatly appreciate any help you can give us in fine tuning our Golf Course Directory.

  Please send an email to support@grouplooper.com to tell us about any golf course that is currently open and that you can’t find in the course search. (Note that courses frequently change names, so before you conclude we don’t have the golf course, do a search on city/state and see if you can find the course now open under another name than the one you remember). Include as much information as you know about the golf course name, address and any other contact details (e.g., web site URL, phone number).

  As of this writing (Aug 2019), we believe we have a complete list of courses in every country except South Korea and China.

• What selection criteria can I use to find golf courses I'm interested in?

  Current filter criteria are:

  Name (enter as much of the name as you want and we’ll find names that contain what you’ve entered)

  Country

  Location (enter city, state, Zip code or full address and set your distance limit; this search has some limitations currently outside the US)

  Played List entries OR Unplayed List entries (i.e., courses that are NOT currently on your Played List) OR Favorites List entries OR Wish List entries

  Public courses only or Private courses only or Closed courses only (if you don’t select any of these, we’ll display all Open courses (both Public and Private). Closed courses will only be displayed if you specifically request them.

  On the Desktop site (not available on Mobile), you can use the “MORE” button to access some additional filters:

  Senior Rate Age (find courses that offer Senior Rates for ages less than or equal to the age you’ve entered)

  Rate (find courses that have a weekend rack rate with cart within the $ range you’ve entered)

  Slope (our Slope search is currently broken because of some changes we made to the way we store Tee Set data… we’ll get this working again at some point)

  You can also filter courses based on the contents of the various Course Lists that we maintain… there are hundreds of them.

  These selection criteria can be mixed and matched in any permutation (e.g., all Public courses within 50 miles of my zip code that are “Unplayed” (i.e., not on my Played List).

Deals

• How is the Savings in each Deal calculated?

  Most Savings amounts are calculated by comparing the price of the deal to the standard rack rate at the same golf course. In many cases, a single ‘deal’ actually has several variations (e.g., a Senior rate that is different for 9 holes walking, 9 holes riding, 18 holes walking and 18 holes riding). In these cases, the detailed description of the deal usually explains which situation was used to calculate the savings amount.

• Why can some users see deals that others can't?

  The visibility of any Deal is controlled by the Golf Course offering the deal. There are two possible situations:

  1) A deal is viewable by all users.
  2) A deal is viewable only by members of a specific Network.

• What's the difference between Deals and Coupons?

  Deals represent offers made by golf courses that are typically open-ended in terms of how many times they are used. For example, the twilight rate at Hillcrest Golf Club may be available for any golfer any day of the week.

  Each coupon is a voucher that authorizes a golfer to receive a certain set of services at a certain price once. When the promotion is consumed, the coupon is redeemed and may not be used again. Users typically acquire coupons either by buying them or by joining a Network that has a pack of coupons as one of the perks of membership.

• Are all deals found on the site guaranteed?

  No.

  All deals are subject to change at the sole discretion of the golf course operators. We expend a lot of effort attempting to ensure that the Deal information on the site is accurate, but stuff happens, things change and there may be cases where Deal information is inaccurate/out of date, etc. Before relying on a deal being available, you can always check with the golf course.

  If you actually purchase a Deal through the site, you’ll receive a coupon entitling you to the value that you’ve purchased… so any money you spend is protected.

Dashboard

• I want to make sure GroupLooper e-mails won't wind up in my spam folder. What e-mail address will they come from?

  Most GroupLooper notifications will come from support@grouplooper.com.

• Will Notifications that show up on my Dashboard also be sent to me via e-mail?

  Yes.

• What events trigger notifications?

  You’ll receive a notification when:
  – You are invited to play in a tee time
  – Another player invites someone to play in a tee time that you have organized
  – An invitee accepts an invitation to play in a tee time that you have organized
  – An invitee declines an invitation to play in a tee time that you have organized
  – If date/time/course are changed for a tee time that you’re involved in
  – If an invitation to play in a tee time has been canceled because the tee time filled up
  – If a tee time that you are involved (invited to or participating in) has been canceled
  – If the organizer of a tee time has canceled your invitation or removed you from the tee time
  – If the organizer of a tee time that you are involved in has posted and distributed a new comment

• What's the difference between my Groups and my Networks that are referenced on the Dashboard?

  This is a common point of confusion… we’ll try to clarify.

  Networks are like virtual country clubs… they have members and those members share common capabilities (e.g., they can view each others’ profiles, they are eligible to join tee times reserved for Network members, they are eligible to use Deals offered by Golf Courses). There is a single person who controls the membership rules for each Network… we usually refer to him/her as the BD (Benevolent Dictator) or more boringly as the Network Owner/Administrator. Most individual users have no interest in taking on all the responsibilities of a BD. See FAQs about Networks for details.

  Groups, on the other hand, are a free time-saving feature specifically designed to help anyone who organizes tee times. Each Group is a list of people who you like to play with; by placing them in a Group, you’re able to invite them all to a tee time with one simple click. Any GroupLooper user can create as many Groups as they want. You’ll also be able to view and use Groups that someone else has created that you are included in. See FAQs about Groups for more details.

For Private Golf Club Operators

• Can Private Golf Club operators also benefit from GroupLooper?

  Probably.

  We know that many private clubs already have tee time systems that are similar to some of the tee time organizing capabilities of GroupLooper, but many of GroupLooper’s features are unique and valuable for any golfer.

  Some examples of ways that private clubs could use GroupLooper to their benefit include:

  a) Reciprocal programs with other private clubs could be administered through GroupLooper. By electronically connecting members of the participating clubs, all sorts of interesting possibilities open up.

  b) Private clubs could market guest rounds in a very targeted way not visible to the general public. This could generate some incremental revenue without damaging the integrity of the private club veil.
  We recommend that you review the document at www.grouplooper.com/protips and adopt the elements that are compatible with your unique private club experience.

  c) Private clubs that have not invested in automated tee sheet systems could introduce members who want to have the benefit of an automated tool to GroupLooper.

Joining a Tee Time

• Can I invite other members to join a tee time I think they might be interested in?

  Yes. Select the tee time and if there are open slots left in the tee time you can invite other Members or Guests to participate. You don’t have to join the tee time yourself to issue those invitations.

• What if I don't respond to a tee time invitation?

  There is no obligation to respond.

  It is helpful to Organizers, however, to receive responses even if they are Declines… it gives them a definitive response and they can then decide whether they should be issuing additional invitations.

• Can I join a tee time that I haven't been invited to join?

  Yes… if the Organizer of the tee time has set it up in a way that enables you to view it either because:

  a) It’s a Public tee time that any GroupLooper user can join

  b) It’s a Network tee time that any member of a particular Network can join… and you are a member of that Network.

  In both of these cases, if you use the Join a Tee Time option, you’ll see these tee times and can add yourself to any open slots.

• What if I want to send more than an accept/decline message back to the tee time organizer?

  Of course you can always do that by traditional means with an e-mail, text message or phone call.

  If your message is specifically related to the tee time and you want your message to also be viewable by other participants in the tee time, you can post a comment in the tee time comments thread. View the Tee Time and enter your comment; it’ll be stored in chronological order with the other comments entered for that particular tee time.

• What if I try to accept a tee time invitation after all the slots have already been filled?

  You’ll receive a message that says the invitation is no longer available.

  Someday we may have wait list functionality… it’s not there yet.

• What if I join a tee time and then need to back out because my plans have changed?

  No problem…

  If you received an e-mail invitation to join a tee time, you can go back to that e-mail and the DECLINE button will work to reverse your earlier decision.

  OR
  Select the tee time from your Dashboard and on your slot in the tee time use the “Leave tee time” option. Poof… you’re gone and the Organizer will be notified via e-mail (and a Notification will be placed on their Dashboard).

  In general, opting in and then backing out causes some pain for your Organizer, so please be sensitive to that. If you make this a frequent habit, the Organizers will be smart enough to simply remove you from their invitation lists in the future and you’ll become a very lonely golfer.

  If you do back out of a tee time slot within 24 or 48 hours of the tee time, you might be putting your Organizer in an awkward position with the golf course in the event (s)he can’t fill the slot and can’t change the tee time outside of the golf course’s cancellation window. We recommend you over-communicate in this case… make sure the Organizer notices that you’re changing your plans.

• What if I decline a tee time invitation and then want to get back in because my plans have changed?

  No problem… as long as there are still open slots in the tee time, you can get back in.

  If you received an e-mail invitation to join a tee time, you can go back to that e-mail and the ACCEPT button will work to reverse your earlier decision.

  OR

  Select Join a Tee Time from your Dashboard (desktop) or Menu (mobile), open up the tee time and add yourself to the tee time. The Organizer will be notified via e-mail (and a Notification will be placed on their Dashboard).

• What if I'm getting bombarded with too many tee time invitations?

  Congratulations, you must be a popular person to play golf with.

  The whole idea of Networks is that they represent groups of golfers who have declared that they’d like to play golf with one another, but we understand that even too much of a good thing can become a problem so if the volume of tee time invitations is getting annoying, we offer the following suggestions:

  1. If you update your profile, there is a setting in the Preferences Section that enables you to limit tee time invitations to people who are members of your Networks. People who know your e-mail address will still be able to send you invitations, but if people are searching by name (e.g., Smith), you’ll only be visible to members of your Networks.

  2. Don’t respond to the e-mails you’re not interested in; most Organizers are rational people and if someone doesn’t respond many times running they will likely remove you from future tee time invitations. Since you can always go online and join tee times where there are open slots even if you haven’t been invited, you can still get value from your membership.

  3. You could reach out proactively to the most prolific “Inviters” and let them know under what conditions you might accept an invitation… it should help to stem the tide.

  4. If you’re in multiple networks, maybe you’ve simply got yourself over-extended and want to remove yourself from one or more networks.

  Then there are the Machiavellian options… we don’t recommend them but if you’re being stalked we wouldn’t blame you for considering them:
  1. Accept tee times and then don’t show up
  2. Adjust your handicap to 3x what it really is, accept a tee time, show up and arrange a high stakes betting game and walk away with all the money
  (kidding… kidding… kidding… please don’t really do these things)

  These are all band-aids… more sophisticated solutions are on the way in the future (e.g., we’re working on the design of a feature that will let you enter upcoming dates when you’d like to play and if you’ll be able to only allow invitations to filter through for those days… this should be helpful for both Inviters and Invitees)… there are other secret sauce features in the lab. We never stop thinking about how to make golf more fun, more convenient and more affordable for our users.

• If I receive a tee time invitation, how do I respond?

  Open an e-mail. Read a brief message. Push a button. DONE.

  It’s really that simple. Every tee time invitation triggers an e-mail to you that specifies Date, Time, Golf Course, # of Holes, name of the Organizer and whatever Note the Organizer attached to the tee time.

  At the bottom of your brief e-mail, there will be a GREEN Accept button and a RED Decline button. Just select one of the options from the e-mail and we’ll get your message and process it. The Organizer will receive a Notification e-mail.

  There are two other ways for you to respond if you’re logged in:
  1. Open tee time invitations will show up on your Dashboard and you can respond from there (same idea… GREEN Accept and RED Decline button.
  2. If you want to know a little more about the Tee Time before you decide, you can click on the tee time from your Dashboard and go to the Join a Tee Time page. You can see the entire playing group there, including any outstanding invitations. In addition to accepting for yourself, you can issue invitations to other players if there are more available slots to play.

Organizing A Tee Time

• Can I organize a tee time that I don't play in?

  Yes. When making the tee time, GroupLooper will assume you want to play and add you as the 1st player in the tee time. By clicking the X in the right side of your player box (Desktop) or by Leaving the tee time (Mobile), however, you can remove yourself from the tee time.

  This technique can be helpful when:

  You are booking a ‘multiple tee time game’ and you are playing in one of the tee times.

  You are a club manager setting up games for visiting players.

  You organized the game but your plans changed and you are having to back out; rather than canceling the game, you can keep it alive for the other players.

• How many people can I invite to my tee time?

  As many as you want… you can simply keep adding more slots on the Make a Tee Time or Edit a Tee Time page by clicking Add another player at the bottom of the page.

  Remember, though, that everyone you invite will get an e-mail message/invitation. You do not want to be known as the member who spams everyone every time you make a new tee time. Invite people who you specifically want to know about the tee time. If you make your tee times public, everyone in the network will be able to see your tee time if they are looking to play golf on the same day that you have scheduled your round.

• What courses can I make a tee time for?

  Our philosophy is that you decide what golf experience you want, and we help you achieve it.

  So, unlike most golf booking systems that only let you organize rounds of golf on the golf courses that they have a business relationship with, we let you arrange a round of golf on any golf course that we have in the golf course directory (over 36,000 and counting… we think we’ve got every golf course in the world… do you know of any we missed?).

  Each tee time may be for one and only one course; if you have a game that spans multiple courses you’ll have to make a separate tee time for each course.

• When I invite someone to play, how do they find out about it?

  Each person invited to a tee time receives an e-mail informing them of the date/time/course and organizer, and an invitation is also placed on the dashboard of all invitees who are registered users).

  Invitees can respond directly from the e-mail or from inside GroupLooper.

• Can someone join one of my tee times even if I haven't explicitly invited them?

  If you have created the tee time as a Public tee time (one of the options on the Make a Tee Time page), then any GroupLooper user can see and join the tee time.

  If you have created the tee tims as a Network Tee Time (done by selecting one of the Networks that you belong to in the Visibility field), then anyone who is a member of the Network that the tee time was created for can fill an empty slot in your tee time. This is useful when you want to play on a day when your regular playing partners aren’t available or when you’re simply looking for a little playing partner variety.

  If you have created the tee time as a Private Tee Time, then only the specific people that you have invited to play can see/join the Tee Time. One caveat here is that people who you have invited to play are allowed to add other people to the tee time invitation list.

• What if I want to get a message to participants after issuing the initial invitation?

  There is a Comments thread inside each tee time that can be used for this purpose.

  Select the tee time from your Dashboard and add a comment to the Comments thread.

  As the Organizer, you have 2 options. You can either just post the comment to the thread, meaning that other players/invitees will be able to see it when they are viewing the tee time. Or, you can choose Post and e-Mail Comment and it will not only be posted to the thread but it will also be e-mailed to all current e-mail participants (people who have accepted or who still have open invitations).

  Note that the e-mail option is only offered to the Organizer. Other participants may post to the thread but are not given the option of sending an e-mail blast. We do this as a courtesy to the Organizer, who is the ultimate authority on logistics for the tee time.

• Who can I invite to play in a tee time with me?

  Anyone you want to play with.

  If the person is a member of one of your networks or has set their tee time visibility as public, their name will pop up as you start to type their name in one of the tee time slots.

  Otherwise, you can enter an e-mail address into one of the invitation slots. If the e-mail address is for a registered User, we’ll display the invitee’s name. If not, we’ll continue to display the invitee’s e-mail address. In either case, the invitee will receive an e-mail invitation to play in the tee time just like your fellow network members. The invitee will need to Accept the invitation to be added as a player in the tee time.

  If the person isn’t visible by name and you don’t know their e-mail address, you can simply type their name into one of the invitation slots and we’ll assume that 1) they are playing and 2) you will notify them and be responsible for ensuring that they get to the course. In other words, they won’t receive any notifications from the system… only from you.

• How do I create a new tee time?

  THE SHORT VERSION

  On the Desktop Version:
  Go to Dashboard/Tee Times/Make a New Tee Time
  Enter Date/Time/Course
  Book the round at the course by either 1) book direct from GroupLooper (if available), 2) book on the golf course web site (we provide a link) or 3) call the golf course (we provide the phone number).
  Enter a Note if you want the people you invite to have some additional info
  Set the player limit and invite players (if you have groups set up, you can invite a bunch of players with one click).

  Or, on the Mobile Version:

  Select New Tee Time from the navigation menu.
  Fill in Date/Time/Course/Visibiliity/9-18 Hole Selector (all required) and, optionally, Organizer Notes.
  If the Golf Course is bookable Direct, check Availability, pick a tee time and book it.
  If the Golf Course is not bookable, use the phone number of website link to book the tee time.
  Use the Players tab to invite other individuals or groups.

  Sit back and let GroupLooper manage the responses.

  If this consumes more than a minute or two of your time, something’s wrong.

  THE LONG VERSION:
  If you’re one of those golfers who carries the burden of scheduling and organizing most of the tee times you play in, THANK YOU! You’re the backbone of the golf industry… without people like you, golf would die. GroupLooper is here to make your job easy peasie… we intend to reduce the amount of time you have to spend on the entire process of booking the tee time and getting it filled with players to less than 5 minutes. That’s a far cry from the 1 to 2 hours that many tee time organizers tell us they spend on phone calls, e-mails, test messages, etc.

  Most organizers find the system intuitive enough to use that they don’t need these written instructions, but here’s your belt and suspenders if you choose to use them.

  From your Dashboard (desktop) or Menu (mobile), select the Make a Tee Time button.

  A “tee time” can consist of one or more tee off times/foursomes/playing groups. For example, if you want to organize a game with 8 people teeing off on consecutive tee times, you can organize all of that activity under a single GroupLooper tee time. You can use GroupLooper to manage a tee time with up to 32 people.

  The minimum information you need to enter to get GroupLooper to store a tee time and start issuing invitations is:
  Date
  Time (if you’re doing multiple tee times, use the time of the first tee-off)
  Golf Course (if you’re not sure exactly where you’re going to play but you’re trying to figure out who’s available, use an educated guess to get the process started and you can change the course name later)

  It’s helpful to think of the process of making a tee time as consisting of two distinct steps:
  1) Reserving one or more tee times at the golf course
  2) Filling the tee time reservations with players

  Those steps can be done in either order… if you want to gauge interest before booking the tee time you’re more than welcome to do so.

  Step 1 can be done in a variety of different ways, depending on what tee sheet reservation system the golf course uses. Other FAQs cover those details.

  Step 2 (which has traditionally been the time consuming part for most organizers) is always done the same way in GroupLooper… and you’re going to be delighted at the help that you get from GroupLooper in herding the cats to the first tee. If you organize lots of tee times, learn how to use the Groups function and it’ll save you gobs of time.

  GroupLooper won’t actually commit the tee time to memory and start issuing invitations until you have either pushed the blue Create a Tee Time button at the bottom of the Make a Tee Time page OR until you have pushed the Book a Tee Time button for a tee time that GroupLooper can book directly on the golf course tee sheet.

  If you ever make a tee time inadvertently (it’s hard to do but not impossible), don’t worry… you can always Cancel a GroupLooper tee time and start over.

  Go ahead now… get started… and if you hit any snags check the rest of the FAQs in this section for some guidance.

• Do I have to pay upfront or do I pay at the golf course?

  That all depends on the policy of the golf course, but most of the time you won’t pay anything upfront at the time you make the booking.

  If you book over the phone, the golf course will likely request a credit card number and may require a deposit or upfront payment.

  If you book on the golf course’s website or on a 3rd party website such as GolfHub or GolfNow, they frequently will request a credit card number and may require some or all of the payment upfront.

  If you book directly through GroupLooper, you will not be asked for a credit card number unless there is a payment/deposit required upfront. Please be aware that just because you don’t have to enter a credit card number upfront that you have carte blanche to renege on tee times. We have negotiated the right not to enter credit card numbers as a convenience for our users, but if the privilege is abused and you commit one or more no shows, your tee time booking privileges may be modified or cut off.

• After I create a tee time, what changes can I make?

  You can change almost anything using the Edit Tee Time option… date, time, course, confirmation #, organizer note, Network name, players who have been invited or are playing. When you change any of these things, the participants in the tee time will be notified via e-mail if it impacts them (e.g., a change in confirmation # isn’t sent out, but a change in the date/time is sent out).

  No one but the organizer may make these changes.

  One thing you can’t currently do is accept tee time invitations for other players. Since accepting an invitation is normally an implicit agreement to show up, play and pay, we are leaving
  that up to each individual’s discretion. You can fill a slot of your tee time with the name of a Guest who is not a GroupLooper user… in that case, you’re responsible for all communications with that guest.

  Of course, if you change date/time/course, this needs to be done in conjunction with the booking you’ve made at the golf course. You’re responsible for keeping that in sync.

  You also always have the option of canceling the entire tee time. Players who had signed up for the tee time or who have open invitations will be notified. You will be responsible for ensuring that the tee time has been canceled with the golf course; most golf courses require at least 24 hours notice on cancellations.

• How do I actually book the tee time at the golf course?

  There are four ways you can book your tee time with the golf course.

  1. DIRECT GROUPLOOPER BOOKING – This is the most convenient way. If you see a GREEN checkmark in the Online Booking column of the Course List or if the CHECK AVAILABILITY box pops up when you go to make the tee time, then you can book direct from GroupLooper at this course. (Note: If you see a YELLOW checkmark in the Course List, that means you can can check availability on the golf course from inside GroupLooper, but will need to go to another source to actually make the booking if you see something you like. We’ll be converting all of these to ‘bookable’ courses in the not too distant future.)

  2. COURSE WEBSITE – If a golf course has online booking from its website, GroupLooper provides a link to take you directly to the booking page. You’ll have to log in to their site and in most cases you’ll need to provide a credit card number as part of the booking process.

  3. COURSE PHONE – GroupLooper will always provide you with a phone number that you can use to book the round. If the course doesn’t have online booking, it’s your only real option. If you want some sort of other special treatment (e.g., a big block of tee times), you might also want to call instead of book online. In any event, we always give you this option.

  4. OTHER 3RD PARTY SITES – Sites such as GolfHub, GolfNow, Golf18 and others offer online booking services, frequently including discounts. You may choose to use one of these sites at your discretion.

  If you use GroupLooper booking (option 1), GroupLooper will then automatically manage a variety of things for you. For example, since GroupLooper recognizes the number of players you booked for, we can automatically control the number of playing slots that are available.

  If you use any of the other booking options (2 through 4), you as the Tee Time Organizer are responsible for keeping your reservation in sync with other aspects of the tee time. For example, if you booked 2 consecutive tee off times for a total of 8 players, then on the Make a Tee Time page you should set the Limit Players to 8. This will enable GroupLooper to help you avoid awkward situations like having 10 players accept and then having to cancel 2 of them.

• What if more people want to play in a tee time than I have room for in my tee time reservation?

  This is a nice problem to have, and we’ll help you direct traffic in this case.

  If you’ve set a limit on the number of players that can participate in the game, then as soon as enough players have accepted the tee time to fill all the available slots, we will notify all of the other invitees that their invitations have been canceled. If someone still tries to “accept” from an old e-mail, we will politely inform them that the tee time invitation is no longer available because the game is full.

  For Tee Time Organizers, this means you no longer have to keep track of how many people have accepted and untangle the mess if more people want to play than have slots.

  There are still some hairy situations left to deal with that we don’t fully automate. For example, if you book a foursome for Thursday, issue 8 invitations and 3 others accept by Tuesday, GroupLooper will cancel the 5 remaining invitations. If one of your players then backs out on Wednesday, GroupLooper doesn’t currently re-issue invitations to those who hadn’t responded. We’ll get to stuff like this over time.

• What if I book a foursome and less than 4 people accept/sign up?

  Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a tee time organizer.

  In this case, there’s no magic elixir that we can apply, so you’ve got a little work to do.

  You can:

  Call the course and adjust the number of players down (most golf course tee sheets won’t allow you to adjust the number of players online). If you do this, it’s advisable to also go into Edit a Tee Time and adjust the player limit in your tee time to the number of players who have accepted. This’ll ensure that no one can accept an invitation after you’ve made this change. If you want, you can also use the Comments area to issue an update to other tee time participants.

  OR

  Cancel the tee time completely if you don’t feel you have enough players for the type of game you were hoping for. If you booked directly through GroupLooper, GroupLooper will cancel the booking with the golf course as long as you are outside the cancellation window (most often it’s 24 hours but it can vary by course). If you booked via phone or via the golf course website, you’ll have to inform the course youself that you’re canceling. The GroupLooper cancel function will always inform those who were planning to play or who had open invitations to play that the tee time has been canceled.

• What if someone takes a spot in one of my tee times and I don't want them to play in the group?

  If you want to limit your tee times only to the specific players that you want to play with, it’s best to set the tee time Visibility to Private and then to just invite the people who are eligible to play.

  But, if you find yourself in a situation where you’ve left the door open to others inadvertently and someone has taken a slot that you had meant to be reserved for others, you can look up the tee time, select Edit Tee Time (only the Organizer of each tee time can do this), and remove the player in question by selecting the X on the right side of the slot that the player occupies. They’ll be notified via e-mail that they’ve been removed.

  If you want to change Visibility at any time, use the Edit Tee Time button and you can re-set visibility… from that point forward new players will only be able to see the time if they meet the Visibility criteria.

• Do I have to invite people to a tee time one at a time or can I invite a group all at once?

  We make it easy and convenient to invite groups.

  You can set up as many different groups as you want and each can contain as many people as you like. Any user who is in at least one common Network with you or who has their Profile option set to allow anyone to invite them to a tee time can be included in one or more of your groups.

  Your Dashboard will show you how many Groups you have set up and provides you access to the process for adding new Groups or adding/deleting members for existing Groups.

  Once you have groups set up, organizing tee times becomes a snap. When you’re on the Make a Tee Time or Edit a Tee Time page, there is an “Add a Group” option that appears at the bottom of the list of tee time invitees. If you hover over the Add a Group option, your list of Groups will appear; select one and everyone in the group will instantly be added to the list of tee time invitees. If you invite multiple groups and a particular member is in both groups, they will only receive one invitation.

  Note that anyone who is in a Group can use it to invite others to tee times.

  If you organize a lot of tee times, you are definitely going to want to take advantage of the Group feature. If you have people in your playing groups who aren’t currently registered in GroupLooper, encourage them to register so they can be included in your group invitations.

• Can I invite everyone in my Network to a tee time?

  Indirectly, yes… explicitly, no.

  We have networks with thousands of members, so it didn’t seem prudent to issue thousands of e-mails inviting people to a specific tee time. If people got in the habit of using this feature, no one would be happy.

  If you want everyone in your Network to be eligible to join a tee time, set the Visibility equal to your Network and they’ll be able to view and join your tee time. This is the ‘indirect’ way of inviting everyone.

  You can use the Group function to create lists of people who can be invited to tee times with one click. If you have a small enough Network, it is easy to set up a Group to mimic your Network membership.

• Do I have to book the tee time at the course before inviting people to play?

  We give you lots of flexibility.

  To Create a Tee Time and start inviting players, you need to choose a Date/Time/Golf Course and Number of Holes, but you don’t actually have to book the time at the golf course.

  Some Organizers like to know they have a tee time booked before inviting people. Others like to know how many players they’re going to have before they commit to a booking at the course. There’s no right answer… it’s just a matter of preference.

  Sometimes it’s easy to lose track of whether you’ve booked the tee time or not, so we’ve provided a “Booked Indicator” that’s visible to the Organizer. If you book directly via GroupLooper, GroupLooper will set the switch for you. If you book via other means (phone, golf course website, 3rd party distributor), it’s up to you to set the switch yourself so that you’ll remember what you’ve done.

  Example 1 – Organize First, then Book: It’s Wednesday and you’re trying to arrange a game for 8 players a week from today but you’re not confident that you’ll actually attract that many players. You check availability at your target course and see that there are quite a few open tee times. So, you Create a Tee time and invite your playing group of 15 people but you don’t book yet. You put an Organizer Note in the tee time that says "I haven’t booked this yet. Let me know by Sunday if you’re in. On Sunday, you check the status of the tee time and see that 7 other people have accepted and 2 people had declined. Because the tee time is full, we have auto canceled the other open invitations. Now you contact the course, book your two foursomes and away you go. Of course, now that it’s Sunday you run the risk that the course has filled up or has a much more limited selection of tee times.

  Example 1B – Organize First, then Book: Same scenario except that on Sunday when you check the status of the tee time you see that 6 people have accepted (including you), 7 have declined and 2 haven’t responded. Now you have some alternatives. You could book for 8 and hope you can attract two more, knowing that if you don’t you’ll have to call the course to scale back the number on Tuesday. Or you could book for 6 and hope the course will let you play as 2 threesomes. Of course, now that it’s Sunday you run the risk that the course has filled up or has a much more limited selection of tee times.

  Example 2 – Book First, then Organize – Same situation; it’s Wednesday and you want to play an 8 person game a week from today. You book 2 foursomes at the course right now, and then start issuing invitations. Under this scenario, if you don’t fill the 2 foursomes up before the course’s cancellation period runs out you may want to call the course and scale back the number of reservations. Most courses give you 24 hours before the tee time to cancel… some require more notice, some less.

• How many players can I include in my tee time?

  Up to 32.

  Our thought was that if you’re organizing an outing for more than 32 players, that’s not a tee time… that’s a major event… and we’re not currently configured to manage major events (maybe someday).

  The way you enlist help on crowd control is to set the “Limit Players” parameter to be equal to the total number of players that you’ve booked time for on the golf course (options are 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,12,16,20,24,28,32).

  Note that this is not the number of people you are INVITING to play, but the actual number of slots available for people who accept your invitation and show up to play.

  If you book the tee time either by calling the course, on the golf course’s branded web site or through another 3rd party booking tool such as GolfHub, GolfNow, etc., then you will have to manually set the Limit Players parameter to be consistent with what you booked.

  If, on the other hand, you book the tee time directly through GroupLooper, then GroupLooper will automatically set the limit consistent with what you booked. Please note that direct booking through GroupLooper can currently only be done for up to 4 people, so if you want a bigger playing group than that you will want to book either via phone or via the golf course’s web site. We’ll be making changes at some point to enable booking of larger groups via GroupLooper direct booking.

Scores

• Can I enter scores into GroupLooper?

  Yes.

  In fact, you will want to enter your scores into GroupLooper so we can provide you with an OPA (over-par average) calculation.

  For rounds that were organized ahead of time in GroupLooper, you can go in after you’ve played and enter your score. Find the round in your Past Rounds, select and enter the score. If you’re the Organizer for the tee time, you can also enter other player scores.

  For rounds that were not organized via GroupLooper, you can also enter scores. On the desktop, use the prompt in the OPA section of your Dashboard. On mobile, go to the My Info page of your Dashboard and use the “Add scores for past tee time” button.

  If you have an official handicap service that uses GHIN, you can use the link on the Dashboard to connect to the GHIN service and enter your scores there. GroupLooper is not currently integrated with GHIN so that scores can be passed back and forth… maybe someday.

Account

• Can I use multiple different e-mail addresses in GroupLooper?

  No.

  We currently use e-mail address as the primary id for a GroupLooper account and we only maintain one e-mail address per user.

  If you want to change your email address, send us an email at support@grouplooper.com and include both old and new email addresses.

  Maybe someday we’ll allow people to change their own email addresses, but as you can imagine that’s a little bit of an elaborate process because we’d have to verify that the person changing the address isn’t just hijacking another person’s account.

• Can I change the e-mail address on my account?

  No.

  Maybe someday we’ll allow people to change their own email addresses, but as you can imagine that’s a little bit of an elaborate process because we’d have to verify that the person changing the address isn’t just hijacking another person’s account.

  If you want to change your email address, send us an email at support@grouplooper.com and include both old and new email addresses.

• What if I have registered in GroupLooper under 2 different e-mail addresses? Can I merge the accounts together?

  You can’t do that yourself (yet). We’ll come up with an option at some point.

  In the meantime, if you want to ‘hide’ the account that you no longer want to use, change the name to something that makes it obvious that it is an account no longer in use (e.g., last name – JONES (DON’T USE THIS ACCOUNT).

Members

• There are some people who I know are registered in GroupLooper, but I can't find them in my Member Directory... what gives?

  If the people who you are looking for aren’t members of at least one of the Networks that you belong to, then they will not appear in your Member Directory. If your Network rules allow it, you could invite them to become a member of one of your Networks using the Invite Friends option.

• Can I invite someone to play in one of my tee times even if they're not a member of any of my Networks?

  Yes.

  You can invite anyone to one of your tee times.

  If they’re a registered GroupLooper user, you can invite them by name (start typing their name and matches will pop up).

  If they’re not a registered GroupLooper user (or if you can’t find them by name), you can enter their e-mail address.

  If someone is invited to a tee time and they are not yet a registered GroupLooper user, they’ll be required to register (for free) before accepting the tee time invitation.

• What determines who shows up in my Member Directory?

  You can view a directory of all users who are members of at least one common Network with you.

  If you don’t belong to any networks, you’ll see the list of “free agents” who also haven’t joined a Network.

Course Lists

• One of my buddies showed me how to compare his list of played courses with those of other users, but I can't find that feature. Where is it?

  Compare Played Lists is a Mobile Site only feature and is one of the coolest features we have for true golf nerds. Compare your list of courses played with anyone who is a member in one of your Networks and any other registered GroupLooper users who have set their tee time invitation profile status to public visibility. This feature allows you to easily see the list of courses you have played that your buddy hasn’t and vice versa and also to review the list of courses that you’ve both played. Use this feature to have a fun 19th hole discussion about courses that you each should be sure to try… or be sure to avoid.

• I read in the Features Tour that there are a bunch of fun lists of golf courses in GroupLooper. What's the deal?

  We’ve got literally hundreds of curated Course Lists. You can access them either from the Courses section of the desktop site or from the main menu on the mobile site.

  There are lists by:
  Architect (e.g., all courses designed by Tillinghast, Ross, Nicklaus, etc.)
  Discount Program (e.g., courses participating in the Minnesota PGA Golf Card)
  Golf Digest (e.g., America’s 100 Greatest Public)
  Golf.com (e.g., Best Public Courses by State)
  GolfWeek (e.g., Best Modern Courses)
  Golf Technology (e.g., courses that use various technology tools)
  Management Company (e.g., courses operated by Troon Management, Billy Casper Golf, etc.)
  Tour Tournament Sites (e.g., PGA Tour Courses – 2013/2014)
  … and more

  You can filter each list by Location
  (e.g., “Hmm… I’ll be in Chicago in July and I love playing courses designed by Donald Ross… are there any in the area?”)

  You can identify for each list how many of the courses are on your Played List (e.g., How many of the Golf Digest America’s 100 Greatest Public courses have you played? We can tell you in seconds.)

Golf Games

• Easy as 1-2-3

  This is a 4 person team event. On each hole the team will count:
  One net ball on par 3s
  Two net balls on par 4s
  Three net balls on par 5s

  Threesomes will use Jackie Parr’s net ball. If you don’t wish to pre-announce the person who will be used as a 4th, you may conduct a blind draw at the end of the rounds. In any event, the drawn partner is placed on two teams and has two opportunites to win.

  Bonus net Birdies are an option.

• Scramble

  Split the best golfers and then draw names to fill out foursomes.

  All 4 golfers go to the best shot and hit their next shot, etc. Record just one team score.

  Some variations on the game:
  Minimum drives per player – require each team to use at least x drives from each player during the round (a common convention is minimum of 2 drives per player)

  Multiple birdies – if 4 players are putting for birdie, each person could register a birdie for a maximum total of 4 under for the team for the hole.

  Chip In Bonuses – Chip in birdie is worth 4 under. Chip in eagle is worth 8 under.

  If your group has only 3 players:
  First 6 holes – Player #1 will hit 2 balls at each position
  Middle 6 holes – Player #2 will hit 2
  Last 6 holes – Player #3 will hit 2

• Shamble

  Split the best golfers (one per group) and then draw names to fill out foursomes.

  Like in a scramble, all members of a team tee off and the best ball of the four tee shots is selected on par 4s and 5s. All players move their ball to the spot of the best ball. From this point, each player plays their own ball into the hole. On par 3s, each player plays their own ball for the entire hole.

  Variations on the game:
  Each player can use their handicap for a net score.

  Minimum drives per player – require each team to use at least x drives from each player during the round (a common convention is minimum of 2 drives per player).

  Team scoring – Count one score per team per hole with the option of bonus net birdies.

Apparation Golf & Country Club®

• What is the Apparation Golf & Country Club®

  The Apparation Golf & Country Club® is a very special membership experience for members of the best private country clubs in the world. Check it out at www.apparationgcc.com..

For Public Course Operators

• How can my golf course benefit from the use of GroupLooper?

  You’ve got lots of options:

  1) Sponsor a GroupLooper Network and invite all of your Season Pass holders, Players’ Card holders, Patron Card buyers, etc. Give them a private club perk at public course prices. It’s almost guaranteed to increase customer loyalty and frequency of play.

  2) Connect your tee sheet to GroupLooper. This will make it easier for GroupLooper users to book tee times at your course and enable all kinds of other data connections. Most tee sheet providers will charge a fee for this connection, but it should pay off in a sizable number of additional bookings.

  3) Use GroupLooper’s Deals capability to target offers to GroupLooper users to stimulate more play at your course. You can either enter deals that any GroupLooper PRO user may see or enter more targeted deals that are only viewable by GroupLooper PRO users who are members of specific Networks.

  Etc…

  For a long list of ways that your course can benefit from GroupLooper, go to www.grouplooper.com/protips and review the documents found there. We periodically update those docs, so check back every once in awhile for fresh ideas.

• What if the information in the Course Directory about my course is inaccurate or out of date?

  Let us know at support@grouplooper.com.

  If you are willing to maintain the data about your course, contact us at support@grouplooper.com and we can set up an administrative account for your staff.

• How do I create a Network for players at my club?

  Contact us at support@grouplooper.com and we’ll explain your options.

Golf Glossary

• DeVito

  A nasty little five footer

• Rock Hudson

  A putt that looks straight but isn’t

• Will Robinson

  A drive that goes “a long way the wrong way” to the point where it gives the impression of being Lost In Space

• Cuban

  Needed one more revolution

• Yassir Arafat

  Ugly and in the sand

• Princes Grace

  Should have taken a driver

• Princess Di

  Shouldn’t have taken a driver

• Circus tent

  A big top

• Rodney King

  Over-clubbed

• Favre

  I didn’t come all this way to lay up… SPLASH!

• James Joyce

  An impossible read

• Adolf

  Two shots in the bunker

• JFK, Jr.

  Didn’t make it over the water

• Kramer

  A shot that produces a result so goofy you cannot help but laugh.

  If you don’t know why this is funny here’s the context

  A Kramer is related to a McEnroe, but doesn’t have the same element of anger to it.

  It’s the flop shot that flies straight up into the air and lands in its own divot…

  It’s the escape shot from the woods that hits a tree dead center and comes to rest right back at the golfer’s feet

  It’s the pull hook on the driving range that bounces eight times on the club parking lot, each time missing a car by less than a foot

  You’ve seen some… tell your golfing buddies about them and get them laughing so hard you throw them off and win the skins game.

• McEnroe

  A flexible term… used whenever the only logical response to something you’ve seen on the golf course is to raise your eyes to the heavens and scream or mutter You cannot be serious!

  Example of situations that qualify as a McEnroe:
  2 shanks in a row
  Bladed wedge over the green on a par 5 after being in perfect position in 2
  A snotty golfer turning back and glaring at you for talking while he’s trying to putt 200 yards away
  A clueless golfer in front of you waiting until the green clears 250+ yards away and then tops the shot
  … you can no doubt add many more

• Saddam

  A shot that goes from one bunker to another

• Club Crawl

  A Club Crawl is golf’s version of a Pub Crawl. It’s an outing in which participants play at least 45 holes in one day on at least 3 different golf courses. No one individual has to play all 45 holes, but there has to be at least one common link from one round to the next.

  There are several variants:
  The Small Plate Club Crawl – This is a Club Crawl in its purest form – 5 9-hole courses
  The Appetizer Club Crawl – a 9 hole round followed by 2 18 hole rounds
  The Sandwich Club Crawl – 1 9 hole round sandwiched between 2 18 hole rounds
  The Dessert Club Crawl – 2 18 hole rounds followed by a 9 hole round

  And, of course, a Club Crawl can be followed by a Pub Crawl… if you’ve still got the energy to crawl to the nearest pub after completing your 45 holes.

• Rusinko

  An 18 hole round in which the score on one of the 9s is in the 30s and the score on the other 9 is in the 50s (e.g., 50-39-89). Named after the Russian oligarch (MJ Rusinko) noted for his consistently inconsistent play.

Groups

• Who can I add to my Groups?

  Anyone who is registered in GroupLooper, as long as they have not ‘blocked’ you (some users do not allow anyone who is not a member of one of their Networks to invite them to tee times).

  If you want to add someone to one of your Groups who is not currently registered in GroupLooper, send then an email (or use the Invite Friends button on the Desktop version of GroupLooper) and once they have signed up for GroupLooper you will be able to add them to your Group.

• Who can edit the membership in a Group?

  The ‘owner’ (creator) of the Group can add and remove other members of the Group. Other members of the Group may remove themselves, but otherwise may not make any changes to the Group. If a member of a Group removes him/herself, they will no longer be able to see or use the Group.

• Who can use a Group when sending tee time invitations?

  Any active member of the Group can invite all other members to a tee time with one click.

• What if I invite a Group to a tee time and one or more of the members have already been invited by someone else?

  GroupLooper is smart enough not to send duplicate invitations… when you invite a Group, GroupLooper will send invitations to all members of the Group that have not previously been invited to the tee time.

• Why would I need more than 1 Group?

  You might have a number of different cliques that you play with… your closest buddies, members of your league, work colleagues, neighbors near your lake home, winter getaway friends, etc.

  By creating separate Groups, you can more easily target your invitations to tee times. And you can mix and match easily. If you’re trying to organize a tee time for your work colleagues but you wind up with one empty slot in your foursome, you can also invite any other Group to try to fill that slot.

• Can I send an email to all members of one of my Groups?

  Yes, but only if you are the owner of the Group.

  When you display the current list of members for any Group, there is a “Send a Group Message” button that can be used to initiate an email to all members of the Group.

  This feature is only available on the Desktop version of GroupLooper, not on the Mobile version.

• What is a Group?

  A Group is a set of GroupLooper users that can all be invited to a tee time with a single click. Groups are intended to save everyone time when organizing a game. You can create as many Groups as you want and can put up to 50 people in a Group. If you need to support more than 50 golfers, you will probably need to create a Network… contact us at support@grouplooper.com and we’ll help you make that decision.

• What if I'm included in a Group and I no longer want to be in it?

  You can remove yourself from a Group at any time. Select Groups from your Dashboard, select the Group and the list of members will be displayed. You may remove yourself.

Quick.golf

PRIMO Tee Times

• What is PRIMO Tee Times?

  PRIMO Tee Times is the golf tee time aggregator service that golfers and golf course operators have been waiting for.

  What’s different about PRIMO?

  It’s about convenience. Golfers crave convenience and PRIMO gives it to them. Use The Slot Machine to find the perfect tee time in 30 seconds or less. Other convenient time-saving tools are on the way.

  It’s about experiences. Liven up your golf life with something different and fun. We’re working with course operators and membership program operators to create a wide variety of fun games for you and your golf partners.

  It’s got local flavor. Course operators in each region put their own spin on the PRIMO experience.

  PRIMO is designed to help you play where you want to play. We list courses in the directory even if they don’t subscribe to our service so you can see your full range of options… move than 36,000 golf courses!

  We have launched The Slot Machine – a service that enables golfers to quickly and conveniently find available tee times at nearby golf courses.

  Several other services are in the development pipeline:
  Premium Reservations – a silent auction that allows golfers to bid on/acquire rights for high value tee times – Play With The Pro, On Course Lessons, Prime Weekend Morning Slots, etc.

  Join a Game – allows golfers to join games organized by others; no need to book a tee time and be stuck with the job of finding others to join you… just join, show up, pay and play

  Last Minute Tee Times – golf course operators make last minute tee times available for the procrastinators among us

  Foursome Fillers – allows golfers to fill open slots in partially filled tee times; some courses offer incentives for golfers to fill these ‘loose change’ slots.

PRIMO Tee Times - The Slot Machine

• How are the "Recommended" courses determined?

  Every time you enter The Slot Machine, there is a “sponsoring facility” associated with your search.

  If you go to www.grouplooper.com to access the slot machine, you will see the

  If you go use a link provided by a 3rd party to enter The Slot Machine, the 3rd party may provide you with a unique URL that includes their own list of recommended courses.

  You can’t change the list of recommended courses… if you want to customize a list for your use, use the Favorites list.

• How do I create or edit my list of favorite courses?

  The Slot Machine references your GroupLooper list of Favorite Courses. To add or remove a course from your Favorites list:
  1) Log in to GroupLooper
  2) Select Courses
  3) Find the course you want to add or remove, select it and on the Course detail page click on the Favorites button to turn it on or off.

• What is The Slot Machine?

  The Slot Machine is the first PRIMO Tee Times service.

  The Slot Machine is is designed to save you time when you are looking for a place to play. We help you find available “slots” at nearby golf courses without having to hop from golf course website to golf course website. Rather than taking a minute or two to hop from one website to another to see what’s available, you can flip from course to course within The Slot Machine in just a second or two.
   
  The prices shown on The Slot Machine are standard public pricing provided by the golf course operator. You may qualify for a different rate based on walk or ride, membership status, age, residency, etc. The golf course operator in its sole discretion will determine the price when you book or pay for your tee time.
   
  To book your tee time, you will need to contact the golf course directly. If you select a tee time in The Slot Machine, we make it easy for you to connect to the golf course by providing links to the golf course website or phone number.
   
  We intend to expand this service to include more courses and to enable direct bookings from PRIMO.