Help & guides.
How to set up a tournament, enter scores, read the leaderboard and run every format LeaderboardLive plays.
Getting started
Make your first event, Quick Play a round, and get everyone the right link.
How LeaderboardLive works
The organizer sets up the event and sends two kinds of link: scoring links to the people keeping score, and the leaderboard link to everyone else.
Create your first event
On Events tap the + tile, then New Event. Name it, pick Individual, Team or Ryder Cup and a format, and tap Create Event. Manage then walks you through the rest.
Send scoring links and the leaderboard
Manage’s Scoring links card lists every link to send, round by round: one per group, team, player or match. Send each one to its scorer, and the leaderboard to everyone.
Quick Play: score a round without an account
Start a game in a minute from leaderboardlive.io/quick. Pick a format, add names, send the link. The game stays live for 7 days, or keep it for good with your email.
Plan a trip with the Ryder Cup Builder
Pick your group size, number of rounds and points, see the cup the way your crew will, then set it up free in one tap.
Events
Your home after signing in: the + starts anything new, and every event is a tile under Live, Upcoming or Past.
Tournament setup
Every Manage menu: players, teams, groups, rounds, courses, matches and settings.
The Manage page and setup guide
Manage is where you run an event. A short setup guide walks you through rounds, players and groups (or matches), then every setting sits in its own card.
Add rounds, courses, tees and holes
Each round has a course, a tee, its holes (18, one nine, or one six of a 6-6-6), and (for team and Ryder Cup events) its own game. Search the course by name and the pars and stroke indexes come with it.
Add players and handicaps
Type names one at a time, paste a whole list, or import a spreadsheet. Put the handicap after the name. You can fix names and numbers any time.
Make teams for best ball, shamble and scramble
In team games where everyone plays their own ball, add players first, then tap names to build each team. Teams can change round by round.
Make playing groups (one scoring link per group)
A group is the players in one cart or tee time. Each group gets one shared scoring link, so one person keeps score for everyone in it.
Ryder Cup: pick sides and pair the matches
Name the two sides, put each player on one, then use the match builder to pair each round. Every match gets its own scoring link.
Ryder Cup Singles: two matches, one scorer
Group two Singles matches that play together into a foursome, and one scorer keeps both on a single link.
Change the format and its options
Manage → Format switches the scoring format and its options. Scores already entered stay and are counted under the new format.
Event name, dates and a private board
Set the name and dates, and make the board private with an access code so only people with the code can watch.
Handicap settings: index, allowance and playing handicaps
Enter each player’s Handicap Index and LeaderboardLive works out their course handicap for every round. Set an allowance per round and check exactly what everyone plays off.
Put a player on different tees
Everyone plays the round’s tee unless you move them. Move a player up or back for one round and their course handicap follows the tee.
The Organizer toolbox
The toolbox on Manage and on the leaderboard: share the spectator link, add a banner, score any group, and adjust handicaps or tees mid-round.
Clear scores or delete an event
Clear all scores wipes every score but keeps players, groups and rounds. Delete Tournament removes the whole event. Neither can be undone.
Formats & rules
How each game is scored, and how handicaps and strokes are applied.
Every format LeaderboardLive plays
Three types of event (Individual, Team and Ryder Cup) and the formats under each. Pick one on New Event; change the format later in Manage.
Stroke Play
Every stroke counts and the lowest score wins. With handicaps the board ranks on net, and you can flip it to gross.
Stableford
Points on every hole against net par: 2 for a par, 3 for a birdie, 0 for double bogey or worse. Most points wins.
Stableford Tilt
Stableford with a streak. A net birdie puts you on tilt and your next hole counts double, another birdie makes it triple. Good or bad.
Match Play (individual)
Each playing group is a match. The lowest net score wins the hole; a two-player match ends when one leads by more holes than are left.
Scramble and Alternate Shot
One-ball team formats: each team posts one score per hole. Scramble teams get a team handicap worked out from the players’ handicaps.
2-Man Best Ball, Shamble and 2 Best Balls of 4
Team games where everyone plays their own ball and enters their own score. The team’s best net score (best two in 2 Best Balls of 4) counts on each hole.
Ryder Cup scoring: points, Race to, and the defending champion
Two sides play matches round by round. Match Points gives a point per match won; Hole Points gives a point per hole. First to half the points plus a half wins the cup.
Skins and the Nassau
Skins and a Nassau (front 9, back 9 and 18) are worked out automatically on the Stats page for every event. No setup, and no money changes hands in the app.
How handicaps and strokes work
Enter a Handicap Index and LeaderboardLive converts it to a course handicap for each round’s tees, applies any allowance, and gives strokes on the hardest holes first.
Pick up
Out of a hole? Tap Pick up. It records a net double bogey: no Stableford points, and it only counts for your team if everyone else scores worse.
Entering scores
Scoring links, the scoring screens, fixing a mistake, and scoring offline.
Open your scoring link
Tap the link the organizer sent you. On a phone the leaderboard opens with your scorecard ready in a sheet. No app, no account.
Enter scores hole by hole
Tap + for par or − for birdie, adjust, and you’re done. Scores save on their own and the card moves to the next hole when everyone is in.
Fix a wrong score
Open the hole on your scorecard and tap + or − until it’s right. It saves the same way and the board updates for everyone.
Scoring with bad signal or offline
Keep scoring. Open your scoring link once with signal and it works with none for the rest of the round; scores wait on your phone and send themselves when you’re back in signal.
Two people scoring the same group or match
It’s fine. Each phone sees the other’s scores within seconds, and in a Ryder Cup match each side can keep its own score.
Score a Ryder Cup match
Each match has its own link. Enter every player’s (or side’s) strokes and the app decides the hole, the match status and the cup score.
Score two Singles matches on one card
When the organizer groups two Singles matches into a foursome, one link scores both. Each hole lists both matches.
“Round locked” or “Tournament locked”
A locked round needs the organizer to unlock the event. Scores already in are safe, and the leaderboard stays up.
Leaderboard & sharing
What spectators see, the live moments, stats, recaps and share cards.
The live leaderboard
One link that anyone can open to follow every score as it’s entered. No app and no account. It updates on its own.
The Ryder Cup board
The cup score up top with what each side needs, then every round and match with its live status. Tap a match for the hole-by-hole card.
Gross or net: switching the view
When anyone in the field has a handicap, a Gross | Net switch sits above the board. Net is the default. It changes the view only, never the scoring.
Live moments: birdies, streaks and lead changes
When something happens on the course, a card pops up for everyone watching: a birdie, an eagle, a run, a new leader, a match won, the cup clinched.
Scorecards
Tap Cards on the leaderboard for every player’s (or match’s) full card, hole by hole, with birdies circled and bogeys boxed.
Stats, skins, Nassau and awards
Tap Stats on the leaderboard for best rounds, skins, a Nassau, scoring averages, birdie counts and fun awards, worked out from the scores.
Watching a private board
A private board asks for an access code once. Get it from the organizer; a scoring link’s preview shows it too.
What a shared link looks like
Every LeaderboardLive link unfurls into a card in Messages, WhatsApp and Slack that says what it opens, so nobody mixes up the board and a scoring link.
Account & pricing
Signing in, your dashboard and profile, what is free and what an unlock covers.
Create an account and sign in
Only the organizer needs an account. Sign up with email and a password, or with Google, and you land on Events.
Settings: name, password, sounds and deleting your account
Settings holds your credits, display name, password, the moment-sound preference, and the option to delete your account.
Pricing: what’s free and what a credit unlocks
Events with one or two rounds are free to score. A $40 credit unlocks one event in full: every round, any number of players, and public sign-ups.
Buy, redeem and apply a credit
Buy a credit in Settings, or redeem a promo code there, then apply it to an event from Manage or the Hub’s sign-up page.
Notifications
The bell (desktop) or Alerts tab (phone) shows purchases, promo codes, credits applied and announcements.
Emails LeaderboardLive sends
Organizers get account emails, receipts and one set of pre-round tips. Players don’t get email from us: you send them their links.
Guides
Longer reads: planning a Ryder Cup trip, how each format works, and how to score a tournament.
How to Run a Ryder Cup Format Golf Trip
A complete playbook for organizing the match play golf trip your crew has been talking about for years.
6 min readMatch Play Scoring Explained
A clear breakdown of how match play golf works, from basic hole wins to dormie, closure, and running a full tournament.
5 min readBest Ball vs Scramble: Which Format Should You Choose?
A straightforward breakdown for golf trip and event organizers who just want to run a great round.
ExplainerStableford Scoring Explained (Without the Jargon)
Most golf is scored by counting strokes, fewest wins.
ExplainerHow to Play Tilt: The Golf Game Where Birdies Snowball
Tilt is a golf points game: Stableford with a streak, listed as Stableford Tilt in the app.
ExplainerSkins: The Golf Game Where Every Hole Has a Prize
In skins, every hole is its own prize.
ExplainerThe Nassau: Three Bets in One Round of Golf
A Nassau splits an 18-hole round into three bets: the front nine, the back nine and the full 18.
Explainer6-6-6 Golf: Three Games in One Round
In a 6-6-6 round, a foursome splits 18 holes into three 6-hole games.
ExplainerWhat Is Net Score in Golf? (Explained Simply)
Two golfers can shoot very different gross scores and still finish tied on the leaderboard.
ExplainerHow to Keep Score in Golf: A Beginner's Guide
Golf scoring is simpler than a scorecard full of numbers makes it look.
ExplainerHow to Score a Golf Tournament
Running a golf tournament comes down to a few decisions made before anyone tees off: what format you're scoring, whether you're using handicaps, and how players will actually report scores.
ExplainerHow to Run a Ryder Cup-Style Golf Trip
Splitting a golf trip into two teams and running match play across a weekend is one of the most popular formats for a group trip, borrowed straight from the Ryder Cup: team vs. team, points on the line for every match, a running score the whole group can watch.
Quick answers
Do I need an account to play or score?
Only the organizer needs a free account. Players and scorers just open the link they’re sent. No app, no sign-up. Read more
How do I create a tournament?
Tap the + tile on Events, then New Event. Name it, pick Individual, Team or Ryder Cup and a format, then add a round and your players. Manage walks you through each step. Read more
What formats does LeaderboardLive support?
Stroke Play, Stableford, Stableford Tilt and Match Play for individuals; Scramble, Alternate Shot, 2-Man Best Ball, Shamble and 2 Best Balls of 4 for teams; and Ryder Cup events with Four Ball, Scramble, Alternate Shot and Singles rounds. Skins and a Nassau are automatic. Read more
What’s the difference between a scoring link and the spectator link?
A scoring link opens one group’s, team’s or match’s card so whoever holds it can enter scores. The spectator link shows the live leaderboard only. Send scoring links to scorers and the spectator link to everyone else. Read more
How do I fix a wrong score?
Open your scorecard, tap the hole, and tap + or − until it’s right. It saves on its own and the board updates for everyone. Read more
What is dormie?
A side is dormie when it leads by exactly as many holes as are left: the other side can only tie the match. The match status shows it, for example “USA, dormie 3”. Read more
What’s free, and what does $40 get me?
Events with one or two rounds are free, and so is Quick Play. One $40 credit unlocks a single event for good: every round, any number of players, and public sign-ups. It’s per event, not a subscription. Read more
What is an access code?
An optional code that makes your board private. Viewers enter it to watch. Turn it on in Manage → Name, dates and privacy, where you can also see or change it. Read more
The leaderboard isn’t updating. What’s wrong?
Scores appear as soon as they’re saved, with a refresh every 10 seconds as a back-up. If a scorer is out of signal, their scores wait on their phone and send when it returns, as long as the scoring page is open. Read more
Still stuck? support@leaderboardlive.io