Leagues Help & FAQ

Hit Start a League. The Quick Setup wizard takes about 5 minutes — you only need a name, course, format, and schedule. Advanced features (handicaps, divisions, custom points tables) live behind the Advanced tab on your league's Settings page so they don't get in the way.

Starter is $9/month (1 league, up to 30 players). Pro is $19/month (unlimited leagues + bag tags + handicaps + analytics). ChainSeeker adds a 5% fee to player dues collected through Stripe — there's no fee on free events.

Pick a method per event: random draw, balanced (snake-draft on handicap), by-performance (snake-draft on recent average), copy from a previous event, or manual drag-and-drop. Set an RNG seed if you want the draw to be reproducible — same seed always yields the same pairings. Shotgun-start hole assignment is a one-toggle option.

Singles stroke play, doubles random draw, doubles best-shot, doubles alternate-shot, match play (singles or doubles, head-to-head per hole), skins (singles or doubles, per-hole pot with carry-over), and bag tags. Pick at event creation; you can also override the format per individual event.

Each event awards points based on a configurable points table. By default the worst N events drop out. With Phase 51 you can also set: best-of-N events (cap how many count), attendance qualifier (must attend X% of events to rank), and bonus event multipliers (championship weeks count more). Tie-breakers are a drag-and-drop priority list.

Yes — Advanced Settings → Public standings link generates a tokenized URL you can drop in a Facebook group or email. Anyone with the link can view current standings without an account. Rotate or disable any time.

Open your standings page → click Print / Save as PDF. It opens a print-friendly view that auto-prompts the browser's print dialog; choose “Save as PDF” from there. CSV export is also one click away from the same page.

Players can opt into email, in-app bell, and Web Push notifications for nine event types: pairings posted, score reminders, results posted, bag tag challenges, dues reminders, event canceled, weather alerts, card messages, and direct messages. Each player picks their channel mix in their league member preferences. Time-sensitive alerts (cancellation, weather) bypass opt-out by design. Direct messages route through their own envelope icon next to the bell, so the bell stays dark for DMs by default.

Yes. Every league has private 1:1 DM threads between each director and each player — open the envelope icon next to the notification bell on your league dashboard, or hit Message on a member's row. Co-directors share the same inbox, so any director can reply. DMs notify by email and Web Push by default; the in-app bell is opt-in. Bodies never appear in the public activity log.

On the Leagues directory click Near Me (it'll prompt for location), or switch to the map view. You can also filter by state, format, day of week, or dues bracket.

To be a tracked member with handicap, season standings, dues, and notifications — yes, a free ChainSeeker account is required. If you just want to play a one-off event, your director can add you as a walk-on guest by name; you'll get scored alongside everyone else, but the score won't follow you to the next event or count toward season points. Spectators can view live scoring and standings via the public link without signing in.

Yes. Add ChainSeeker to your home screen from any browser (Share → Add to Home Screen on iOS, “Install app” in Chrome). It's a Progressive Web App — works offline for browsing cached pages, fully native-feeling for live scoring entry.

Keep scoring. ChainSeeker queues your hole-by-hole submissions on the device; when your phone reconnects, they replay automatically and a small Syncing N… indicator shows the catch-up. Direct messages work the same way — type and send while offline, they'll deliver as soon as you have signal again. The one exception is dues check-in: that runs through Stripe, so it needs a live connection.

Whatever your league's rules say. If your director enabled best-of-N or drop-lowest, missing one or two events probably won't hurt your standing. If they enabled an attendance qualifier, you may need to hit a minimum percentage to be eligible for season prizes.

Click any player's name in standings, the members list, or a card lineup to open their league profile. You'll see their season summary, recent finishes, handicap trajectory, current bag tag, and which card-mates they've played with most often. If you're a director of the league, you also get an Edit member link on the same page.

Yes — open the envelope icon next to the notification bell on your league dashboard, or hit Message on the director's row in the members list. Replies go straight to their inbox and notify them by email. The thread is private to the two of you (and any co-directors of the league).