Watch a friends’ game
Open the watch link your friend sent you. You see the game’s name, the course and a leaderboard that updates by itself. You do not need an account and you cannot change anything.
Quick answer. Open the watch link your friend sent. The page shows the game’s name, the course and a Leaderboard. You do not sign in, and there is nothing to press to follow along.
Who can do this: anyone with the link. No account needed.
Before you start
You need the link. It comes from the friend who set up the game: on the host’s game page it sits under "Anyone can watch live — no account needed:" with a Copy button. Player+: fun games with friends shows the host’s side. We walked this on a phone-sized screen. We did not walk anything in the phone app.
The steps
- Open the link. Tap it in the text or email your friend sent.
- Read the top. The page shows the game’s name and a line such as "Skins · Heron Lakes — Great Blue Course". While the game is being played there is a mark that says LIVE. When it is over the mark says FINAL.
- Read the Leaderboard. It is a table with the columns #, Player, Thru, Gross, Net and +/-. Thru is the number of holes the player has finished. A tie shows "T2" instead of "2".
- Leave it open. While the game is live the page says "Live — updates automatically". We had the page open on two screens, one signed in and one not, while scores were entered. Both tables changed and neither was reloaded.
What you should see
The game’s name, the course, LIVE or FINAL, and a row for each player. Under the table is a line that begins "Playing for bragging rights". At the bottom is a link, "Run your own games with Back9Ops Player+". A golfer who was signed in but was not in the game saw the same page as someone signed out.
If it goes wrong
- The table is all dashes. Before the game starts, and before anyone has a score, each player showed a dash under Thru, Gross and Net, and E under +/-. There was no LIVE mark. Check again once the game has started.
- One player has a dash under Net. In our game that was a golfer who was added without a handicap. Their Gross and +/- still showed.
- The page says "This watch link isn't active". It adds "The game may have ended or the link was turned off." We saw this with a made-up code. Ask your friend to send the link again.
- The game is over. A finished game’s link still opened for us and showed the final table with FINAL. We did not test how long that lasts.
- You are watching an event, not a friends’ game. That page has a different address. Follow along live is the one for events.
Director's tip
This one is our advice, not a rule of the app. Ask the host to send the watch link to the family before the first tee. Then you see each hole come in without having to ask for it.
Related
Still stuck?
Email support@back9ops.com and tell us what the page said. Never send us the watch link itself.
Still stuck?
Email support@back9ops.com and tell us what you were trying to do. It helps to include the event or league name and what kind of phone or computer you are on.
The latest version is always at https://app.back9ops.com/help/watching-along/watch-a-friends-game