Your first league, start to finish

Quick answer. Make your account and your club, add your course and your players, then make the league and start it. When league night comes, build the groups, open scoring, close it and finalize the week. This page is the map. Each step names the longer article, or says what you will see.

Who can do this: an Admin makes the club and sets its time zone. After that, an Admin or an Organizer can make and start the league. Running the week from the Manage Week page is for Admins. Who can do what in your club has the full list.

Before you start

Have your course's printed scorecard in front of you, and the list of golfers you want in the league. Know the night you play, the first tee time and the date the season starts.

The steps

Part 1. Your account and your club

1. Make your Back9Ops account, and confirm it from the email.
2. Set up your club: name it, then set its Time Zone and press Save Changes.

Part 2. Your course and your players

3. Add your course and its tees. Steps 3 to 6 of Your first event show how. A league needs a course before it can be made. Without one, the league wizard stops on its third page with "Add a course before creating a league." and an Add Course button.
4. Add your golfers. Step 7 of Your first event shows how: Players in the side menu, then Add Player. The league roster is picked from this list. Type each golfer's Email too. Back9Ops can only message a golfer who has an email address, and it does not tell you when someone is skipped.

Part 3. The league

5. Press Leagues in the side menu, then New League. On a brand-new club the page is empty and also has a Create League button. Either one opens the wizard. If the button says Get Leagues instead, your club's plan does not include leagues yet. Press it to see the plans.
6. Start your league walks the five pages: Basics, Format & scoring, Weekly schedule, Rules and Sign-ups & review. For a first league, change as little as you can. Press Create League. The league opens as a Draft with all its weeks on the calendar.
7. On the Roster tab, enroll your golfers: type a name and press Enroll, or press Add several at once. No one is emailed.
8. Press Start League. The page says "League status changed to Active." No one is emailed.

Part 4. Your first league night

9. Press Manage This Week. As an Admin you land on the Manage Week page, which lists what is ready under Week Readiness. If it says "Access denied" and you made your club only minutes ago, press Sign Out, sign in again and press Manage This Week again. A league week, start to finish explains each button.
10. Press Generate Pairings. The groups are made. To change the start time, the group size or a shotgun start first, see Set up the week: groups and tee times.
11. Press Prepare scorecards now. The row reads "8 scorecards are ready · QR enabled", or however many golfers you have.
12. Optional: press Send Notifications. It emails every golfer in the week who has an email address, at once, with no question first. The page says "Players have been notified about their scorecard packet." even if no one had an address.
13. On league night, press Open Scoring. The top of the page reads Scoring Live.
14. Golfers score from their phones, or you enter scores from the Enter button beside a group. How scoring works on game day shows both.
15. When the round is over, press Close Scoring, then Yes, Close Scoring.
16. Press Finalize Results, then Yes, Finalize Week. The box has a ticked Email players that results are posted. The page reads Week Final and says "Week finalized.", and the league page moves on to the next week.

What you should see

A league marked Active, your golfers on its roster, and a first week reading Week Final with the standings updated.

If it goes wrong

• The Leagues page says Get Leagues. Your club's plan does not include leagues. Press the button to see the plans.
• Manage This Week says "Access denied" and you are the Admin. The page only learns you are an Admin when you sign in. Press Sign Out, sign in again and try again.
• You pressed Send Notifications by mistake. The email has gone to every golfer in the week who has an address. Press it once, when the groups are final.
• A golfer says they got no email. Open Players and check that golfer has an Email. The green message at the top appears either way.
• You are an Organizer and cannot open Manage Week. That page is for Admins. Your Manage This Week button opens a simpler page with the same steps. A league week, start to finish describes it.
• Scoring never opened for golfers. Starting the league does not open scoring. Press Open Scoring on the Manage Week page.
• You closed scoring too soon. Press Reopen under Fix a Problem.

Director's tip

Do a dry run with made-up golfers a week before your first night. Make a throwaway league, start it, build a week and open scoring. Leave the made-up golfers without email addresses so no real message goes out. It is the quickest way to learn where the buttons are. An Active league cannot be deleted, so when you are done open More league actions, press Cancel League and then Yes, cancel it. A cancelled league can be restored as a draft.

Related

• Your first event, start to finish
• Start your league
• A league week, start to finish
• Set up the week: groups and tee times

Still stuck?

Email support@back9ops.com and tell us the league's name, which step you were on, and what the screen said.