Fair Golf Pairings for Leagues, Trips and Tournaments

Social Golfer is a golf pairing and group scheduling app for organizers. Create groups across multiple rounds, reduce repeat partners, and adjust for absences or fixed positions. Use the native iPhone app or the offline-aware web app.

Download on the App Store Open the Web App

BETA Free during beta for individuals (non-commercial use). No credit card required. Create an organizer account to manage and save your events.

  • Golf Scheduling
    Our planning software creates fair golf groups and manages rotations across sessions for any occasion.
  • Tee Time Management Software
    Solves the social golfer problem for real-life situations. Perfect for golf leagues, tournaments, and friendly matches.
  • Pairing generator (calculator)
    Avoid repeat pairings and track who played with whom.
  • App built for real life
    Manage scheduling around the activity, manage last-minute swaps, allow for absences, and fixed positions in real-time, while using the power of the calculator.
WHY SOCIAL GOLFER

Built for organizers who need fair groups fast

Social Golfer keeps the hard scheduling logic in the app, so organizers can focus on running the golf day instead of fixing spreadsheets.

Fair pairings over time

Track who played together and reduce repeat partners across leagues, trips, tournaments, and weekly groups.

Fast day-of changes

Handle absences, late arrivals, fixed tee times, and uneven group sizes without rebuilding the full schedule.

Works where golf happens

Use practical mobile-first controls on the course, even when reception is poor or plans change late.

Choose your planning task
Golf Pairing Generator Golf Trip Planner Weekly League Scheduling Group Tee Sheet Planning

From a player list to a multi-round golf schedule

Imagine 16 golfers playing three rounds in four foursomes. Add the members, create a session for each round, and plan groups using their pairing history instead of shuffling the same list each day.

Calculate and review

Plan the event online with Recompute All Sessions, or calculate individual sessions. Review the groups and use Matrix to see who plays together.

Handle a late absence

If one golfer misses the second round, mark them absent in that session. Adjust the groups and keep any required fixed player positions.

Save and share

Save changes made on the Groups board, then share the session’s guest link so golfers can view their assignments with read-only access.

Zero-repeat pairings depend on player counts, rounds and constraints; when repeats are unavoidable, optimization aims to reduce them. See an example foursome schedule or explore the golf trip planning guide.

How It Works

Open the app and follow these three steps.

1
️🏌️️ Add Members

Enter the names of all golfers in your group or club.

2
⛳ Create Sessions

Set up your golf days or rounds and the groups size for each session.

3
🧬 Click Calculate

Calculate groups, review pairing history in Matrix, and save your changes. Use Recompute All Sessions online to plan the event together.

Advanced Flexibility

Adapt to any situation with powerful customization options.

Fair Golf Groups

Our smart algorithm ensures all golfers play with everyone else over time across all sessions. No more cliques or repetitive groups.

Offline Ready

Group assignment works without internet. Perfect for remote golf trips or areas with poor reception. Syncs when you're back online.

Guest View

All members can view the latest schedule in real-time. Check their assigned group, playing partners, and tee time anytime, no login required.

Share Links

Everyone in your group can see in real time where they are playing and when their tee time is. Share one simple link and golfers instantly see their course, group, and tee time. Guests use the share link for read-only access without creating an organizer account.

Fixed Tee Time Positions

Need to leave early? Assign specific golfers to the first or last tee time. The algorithm respects these fixed positions while still optimizing fairness for everyone else.

Available on the App Store
NEW

Social Golfer is available as a native iPhone app from the App Store.

Available on Android
NEW

Use Social Golfer as an installed Android app with the same offline-aware web experience.

Delete Your Account
NEW

Delete your account and all associated data whenever you choose.

Sign in with Apple
NEW

Enjoy a fast, private sign-in with Apple, including the option to keep your personal email address hidden.

Keyboard Group Controls
NEW

Move unassigned golfers with number or letter shortcuts, press R to recompute groups, and press S to save.

Recompute All Sessions
NEW

Build and save a fresh fair schedule for every unlocked golf session while leaving locked and non-golf sessions unchanged.

Hide Members
NEW

Hide rarely-used fill-in players from the matrix report without removing them

Toggle Unassigned

Pin or unpin every golfer in the non-assigned group in one action for bulk lock or release.

PDF Reports

Generate print-ready itinerary reports for the user matrix, an entire event or a single day.

Last Update Tracking

Track when groupings were last updated so printed reports could reflect age.

Full Backup

Download a complete data archive of your events for safekeeping.

Custom Periods

Use monthly, weekly, daily, or fully custom session periods to match any event format.

Schedule Overview

Complete view of all sessions and groups organized by schedule.

Matrix Report

Online matrix overview showing who has played with whom across all sessions.

Session Lock

Protect past sessions from accidental changes or modifications.

Training Groups

Always separate professional golfers and junior golfers.

Separation

Seperate golfers that never want to play together.

Auto Users

New users to Unassigned and copy lock status from previous sessions.

Reset Profile

Organizers can reset an event (or the entire profile) and start fresh when needed.

Manage Events

Run multiple events in parallel: weekly groups, trips, and tournaments without mixing groups or history.

Dynamic Group Size

Change group sizes on the fly. Switch between pairs, threesomes, or foursomes as needed.

Reserve Spots

Keep an empty spot when groups normally play in threes but some prefer pairs.

Adjust Per Day

Update the number of groups for each day to match actual tee time availability.

Reshuffle

React fast to last-minute changes. Regenerate fair groups in seconds.

Session History

Remember past sessions and groups, include them in fairness calculations automatically.

Fine Tune

Specify exact groups outside of the calculation when needed.

Quick Corrections

Handle cancellations or swaps easily. Recalculate fairness with one tap.

Retroactive

Update assignments after the fact to ensure future calculations are correct.

Future Aware

Already know future pairing, add them before hand to include in calculations.

Sorting

Group events by day for reporting and simplified overview.

Memory

Remember where you were when you restart the app. Go directly to active sessions.

State

Always see the online status of your app. No need to refresh.

Reorder Sessions

Modify session order and groups when weather, or circumstances change timing.

Drag & Drop

Simply move golfers between groups by dragging them to the group.

Quick Exclude

Move golfers to be reassigned to another group with one click.

Describe Groups

Give direct instructions to golfers specific to their group.

Remove

Delete entire sessions that were cancelled (e.g. due to weather).

Tab Autosave

Change data quickly by jumping to the next field, and autosave.

Export Data

Export your event data as JSON for backup or analysis purposes.

Sign in with Google

Sign in quickly and securely using your existing Google account.

Trip Logistics

Include flights, airports, hotels in sessions. Perfect for group trips and golf vacations.

Assign Anything

Beyond golf: assign groups for transport pickups, restaurant table planning, training breakouts, and more.

Large Groups

Scales effortlessly to handle large club events and tournaments. Manage hundreds of golfers across multiple groups with ease.

Sample Profiles

New accounts can start with sample member and event profiles, so you can explore the workflow instantly after registering.

Built for the Real World

Traditional scheduling systems fail because golf never goes according to plan. This app is made by golfers for golfers.

Common Scheduling Problems
  • Golfers switch groups last minute due to availability
  • Someone asks for the first tee time to leave early
  • A regular golfer cancels the night before
  • Weather forces a day cancellation mid-event
  • New golfers join halfway through a tournament
  • Golfers want to know their start time the day before
How Social Golfer Handles It
  • Regenerate fair groups in seconds after any change
  • Assign fixed positions for first/last tee times
  • Mark golfers as absent and recalculate instantly
  • Disable a session or reschudle them on the fly
  • Add members anytime; history adapts automatically
  • Share view-only links so everyone stays informed

The Algorithm

Solving a mathematically difficult problem on your device

The Social Golfer Problem

The Social Golfer Problem (SGP) is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem in mathematics. The challenge is to schedule n golfers into g groups of s golfers over w sessions, while ensuring that no two golfers share a group more than once.

The problem is closely related to Steiner systems and Kirkman's schoolgirl problem from 1850. It belongs to a class of computationally difficult problems in which the number of possible arrangements grows extremely quickly as golfers and sessions are added.

For example, scheduling 32 golfers into eight groups of four over ten sessions creates more possible arrangements than could ever be checked individually.

How Pairing Optimization Works

Social Golfer combines scheduling constructions with optimization to reduce repeated pairings. Calculation uses the available browser, mobile or server engine. Server-based calculation requires an internet connection.

Single-session calculation uses pairing history from earlier sessions. Review and save the new groups, and lock completed sessions to protect their results. Whole-event recomputation is a separate action for eligible unlocked golf sessions.

Plan within the current beta limits: up to 120 members per event, 52 sessions and 30 groups per session. Calculation time depends on the schedule, constraints and available engine.

Real-World Problems

Incremental scheduling works one session at a time. Each result can look fair on its own, but every saved choice reduces the options for later sessions. Over a full season, early choices, absences and group changes can create repeat pairings that a whole-event calculation could have avoided.

Recompute All Sessions solves this planning problem by planning eligible unlocked golf sessions together. Use it online when arranging an event or before play begins. The system uses combinatorial constructions based on Miller, Valkov & Abel's, Combinatorial Solutions to the Social Golfer Problem and the Social Golfer Problem with Adjacent Group Sizes, with an optimizer when no direct construction applies. This can produce zero repeat pairings when a supported construction and your constraints allow it; otherwise optimization aims to reduce repeats.

BETA PROGRAM

Join the Beta, Become a Premium User

Register during beta and you're grandfathered into Lifetime Premium.

3
Events
120
Golfers
52
Sessions
30
Groups
ROADMAP

Future Features

Features for Agents
White Label

Brand the app as your own with pre-configured authentication for your customers.

Vacation Import

Upload complete vacation itineraries directly to an event.

Remote Management

Single event managed remotely by agent with on-site trip coordinator.

Read-Only Mode

Locked features that customers cannot override or modify.

Features for Clubs
API Integration

Connect with booking platforms and member management systems. Automatically sync tee times and member data through REST API.

Multi-Event

Calculate fair groups across weekly competitions and group events, ensuring balanced participation across all club activities.

Scorecard Labels

Print pairing labels directly on scorecards. Generate printable labels with group assignments and tee times for easy distribution.

Handicap Weighting

Create balanced groups using handicap data. Import golfer handicaps to ensure fair competition by grouping golfers of similar skill levels together.

Features for Golf Pros
Data Import

Upload member lists and session history easily from spreadsheets.

Advanced Features
Rollback

Restore previous group assignment versions to recover from accidental rescheduling.

Feature Requests

Ideas suggested by golfers.

  • Deliver mobile app experiences for iPhone and Android. Delivered
  • Recompute all unlocked golf sessions from scratch with one group size. Delivered
  • Hide Member. Provide feature to hide member from Schedule. Delivered
  • Remove Member that are marked as hidden. Under Review
  • Fixed Group. Assign a player to a fixed group number.* Interest Needed
  • Mixed Couples/Couples Pairing. Prioritize mixed couples in the pairing calculator.* Interest Needed
  • Multi-organizer. Allow multiple users to manage the same event collaboratively. Rejected
  • Navigate directly to a session using the Guest link. Delivered
  • Add an exclusion Rule. Ensure specific players are never grouped together in the same flight Delivered
  • Generate group start times dynamically based on first tee time and course rules Under Review
  • Auto-lock new users to "unassigned" status for locked sessions Delivered
  • Support custom session schedules (e.g., competition name) instead of day of week Delivered
  • Create a page showing all sessions and groups for a schedule Delivered
  • Print directly from the grouping screen Delivered

* These requests are on hold until more golfers get in touch to request or sponsor them.

Have a feature idea? Get in touch!

How to Use Social Golfer

Instruction videos showing every screen and workflow.

Complete Tutorial

Learn how real-world group assignments are solved using drag and drop.

Social Golfer App Tutorial Preview
Separation Feature

Learn how to use the separation feature to keep golfers apart.

Separation Feature Tutorial Preview
Advanced Features

How to use the advanced features and manage golf trips.

Social Golfer App Advanced Features

Frequently Asked Questions

Sometimes. Player counts, group sizes, rounds, absences and fixed positions determine whether a zero-repeat schedule is possible. Social Golfer uses supported constructions and optimization to reduce repeats. Review the pairing history in Matrix before finalizing your schedule.

Tee time planning software helps clubs and golf groups organize who plays when, with whom, and in which group. Social Golfer adds fairness rules to reduce repeat pairings over the full season.

Use an app like Social Golfer that remembers who played together before. It uses previous pairings when calculating new groups to improve the mix of partners across the season. Review pairing history in Matrix; constraints can make some repeats unavoidable.

The best golf league pairing software should automatically minimize repeat partners, handle uneven attendance, and let organizers adjust groups quickly. Social Golfer is built for these league workflows and supports weekly season scheduling.

Yes. The algorithm dynamically adjusts group sizes, allowing you to mix foursomes, threesomes, and pairs in a single session to accommodate uneven player counts.

The Social Golfer Problem (SGP) is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem in mathematics, closely related to Steiner systems and Kirkman's schoolgirl problem (1850). The challenge is to schedule golfers into groups over multiple sessions so that no two golfers share a group more than once. The number of possible schedules grows quickly. Social Golfer uses supported constructions and optimization to reduce repeats; zero repeats are not possible for every combination of golfers, rounds and constraints.

Yes! Social Golfer is free during the beta period. No credit card required. Everyone who registers during beta is grandfathered into Lifetime Premium at $0 if paid tiers are introduced (Lifetime Premium is intended for personal, non-commercial use and may be limited in cases of excessive or abusive activity).

Social Golfer keeps cached event data available and supports local edits when offline. Sign in and load your event before going offline. Reconnect to synchronize changes, use server-based calculation or run Recompute All Sessions. Available offline calculation depends on the app and its calculation engine.

Open Social Golfer in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, then choose Install app. On some devices the option is called Add to Home screen. Once installed, you can open Social Golfer from your Android home screen.

During the beta, you can manage up to 120 members per event, create up to 52 sessions (perfect for a year of weekly golf), and organize up to 30 groups per session. You can also manage up to 3 separate events, ideal for different golf groups, clubs, or tournaments.

Absolutely! This is one of our most valued features. Generate a share link that allows any golfer to see their assigned group, flight mates, and tee time at any moment. Guests use the share link for read-only access without creating an organizer account. Share via WhatsApp, email, or any messaging app. Golfers can check their assignment anytime, even the night before.

Calculation time depends on the number of golfers, sessions, fixed positions and available calculation engine. Review the resulting groups and pairing history before saving; a short calculation is not a guarantee of a perfect schedule.

If you have configured your sessions correctly, the app is working as designed. Social Golfer schedules sessions incrementally: when the first session is calculated and saved, it becomes fixed, and each later session is optimized around the sessions before it. The software does not automatically change previous sessions to improve a later one, because in normal use those sessions may already have been played. Day-of changes, such as two players swapping groups, are saved as fixed history too. Although a perfect schedule may exist when all sessions are calculated together in advance, reaching it could require changing some earlier groups. By later sessions, the choices and changes from previous weeks may leave no way to create complete groups without repeating some pairings. You can recalculate an earlier session manually; later saved sessions stay fixed, and the calculator shows the resulting number of pairing conflicts. Recalculating earlier sessions may reduce repeats, but it cannot guarantee a completely conflict-free schedule. The calculator always tries to find the best arrangement available within the sessions and results that have already been fixed.

No. I built this app myself as a solo developer for a closed group of golf profesionals. With the help of AI, I was able to add automated testing and run security checks, which made it possible to harden the API and safely release it to a wider audience. This is why I can offer this app free.

Yes. The app is available for agents and golf clubs and includes advanced features that are not part of the public version. These tools are designed to support professional workflows and larger user groups. Agents and clubs interested in access can contact me directly to discuss options and setup.

Yes. The current free version of the app can already be used by golf professionals, training facilities, and golf vacations. It offers the same flexibility that is available to the public, but it does require a bit of understanding of how the system works. If your needs exceed the standard limits for sessions or users, you can contact me directly to discuss expansion options and setup.

A full list of third-party notices is available at our license page.

The print feature requires server-side CPU resources. Since this is a free service, PDF files are limited to the Golf Pro feature tier. However, for users who join the beta early, I can make an exception and enable the print feature. Just send an email and I will review your request.

The service is in beta and is provided as-is. Features may change, break, or be removed at any time. No guarantees are made regarding availability, accuracy, or data retention. Access may be limited or terminated to protect the service or its users. You retain ownership of your data, which we process only to provide the service. These terms may be updated from time to time.

We store your email address (for authentication), your user profile, and the event data you create (members, sessions, and groups). We do not sell or share your data with third parties.

You can access, correct, or delete your data at any time. In the app settings, you can request a data export.

Your data is only visible to you. Guest links show only that event's details and your name as the event host.

Support Social Golfer on Buy Me a Coffee.

You can reach the team at info@socialgolfer.online.