A golfer needs to cancel their spot

Quick answer. Every golfer who signs up gets an email with a private link. That link opens a small page with an I can't make it button, so most golfers cancel without calling you. You get an Inbox notice when they do. You can close the window early with Player changes on the event's settings page.

Who can do this: an Admin. This was walked as an Admin. We did not walk it as an Organizer.

Web only. This article covers the web pages. We did not check the phone app.

Before you start

Nothing to set up. The link is already in the "You're signed up" email that goes to each golfer who signs up on the sign-up page. See Open sign-ups and share the link.

The steps

What the golfer does

1. The golfer opens the email. The subject is "You're signed up" and the event's name. It says "Need to make a change? You can manage your registration any time:" and gives the link.
2. They read their page. It shows the event name, the date and the course, a You're in badge, "Playing as" and their name, and the line "You can make changes until the event starts." Under that are three buttons: I can't make it, Add to calendar and View event. The page ends with "This private link manages just your registration — no account needed." No sign-in is asked for.
3. They cancel. They press I can't make it. The page asks "Cancel your spot in" and the event's name, with Never mind and Yes, cancel my spot. Never mind takes them back to the page above, and nothing changes.
4. They read the answer. After Yes, cancel my spot the page says "You're out of this event" and "We've let the organizer know." It adds that the spot is released and the link is finished.
5. They get an email. The subject is "Your spot is cancelled" and the event's name. It says the registration "has been cancelled, and the organizer has been notified."

Add to calendar gives the golfer a calendar file for the event's date. Its notes line holds their private link again, so the link travels with the calendar entry.

What you see

1. Read your Inbox. A notice called "Cancellation" and the event's name arrives. It reads "Nora Whitfield canceled their registration for" the event's name. When the field was full it went on: "A spot is open and 1 person is on the sign-up waiting list — open the event to give it to one of them." That is your cue for When the event is full: the waitlist.
2. Check the field. The golfer is gone from the Field page. Our golfer had no check-in and no scores, and in that case the row is simply removed, not kept.
3. Old link. If the golfer opens their old link again, the page says "That link isn't valid anymore." and "It may have been cancelled or removed — or the link may be incomplete. If that seems wrong, the event organizer can sort it out."

Close cancellations early

1. Open the event's settings page. Its address ends in /settings. The Event Details card on the event page has an Edit link that goes there. We reached the page by its address, so we did not press that link.
2. Find Player changes. It has two choices: Until the event starts and Until a date I pick.
3. Pick a date. Choose Until a date I pick, and a date box appears. The note under it reads "Players can cancel or change their own registration through" your date, "after that they'll be told to contact you."
4. Save. Press Save Changes.

After that date, a golfer's page shows "Changes closed on October 10 — talk to the organizer if your plans change." The I can't make it button is gone. Add to calendar and View event stay.

Put a golfer back

If a golfer cancels by mistake, add them again from the Field page. Press Add from Roster, then + Add beside their name. The page said "Player added to the field." and the count went back up. See Build the field.

What you should see

On the golfer's page, "You're in" before the cancel and "You're out of this event" after it. On your side, the Inbox notice and one fewer name on the Field page.

If it goes wrong

• A golfer says they never got the link. It is in the "You're signed up" email. Ask them to check spam. We did not test what happens to a golfer you add yourself from the Field page. We saw that adding a golfer back from the roster sent no email to them, so tell them yourself.
• A golfer cancelled by mistake. Add them again as above.
• A golfer got the "Your spot is cancelled" email twice. We saw this once, in our own walk: one cancel sent two identical emails. Nothing else was wrong, and we have written it up as a bug.
• A golfer says the page told them to talk to the organizer. Either you closed changes early, or the event has started. The words for a started event are "The event has started — talk to the organizer if you can't play." We did not walk a started event. Press Withdraw beside their name on the Field page.
• A golfer on the waitlist wants out. We saw that joining the waitlist sent no email, so a waiting golfer has no private link in their inbox. We did not open the page for a waiting golfer. Press Remove beside their name in the Waitlist table.
• A golfer with a check-in or scores cancelled. The source says such a row is kept and the page then offers Put me back in. We did not walk this one.
• The link in the email looks wrong in a test. On our demo club the address in the email began with a test address, not a real one. We did not check what a real club's address looks like.

Director's tip

Say it in your sign-up announcement: "Can't make it? Use the link in your confirmation email." A golfer who cancels on the page tells you, and the waitlist moves, a week sooner than a golfer who just stays home.

Related

• Open sign-ups and share the link
• When the event is full: the waitlist
• Build the field

Still stuck?

Email support@back9ops.com and tell us the event's name, the golfer's name and what their page says.