How to run a golf trip, Ryder Cup–style weekend or season
What a trip or season is in BetLoopr
- A trip or season is a set of ordinary rounds played by one roster.
- Each round is its own game with its own scorecard, and it settles its own money when it finishes.
- The trip adds the rounds up into standings: Match play points, Stroke play, Stableford points or Money only.
- Set up as many as seven rounds when you create it, and add more on the trip page until the trip is settled.
Suggested setups
What you're planning, which answer to pick, and the taps to set it up.
Ryder Cup–style weekend
Pick: Match play points, with two sidesTwo teams and a cup on the line: USA v Europe, East v West, the regulars v the new guys.
Every round is matches inside each group: singles, 2v2 best ball, 2v2 aggregate, a scramble or alternate shot (Chapman). A hole won is 1 point and a halved hole is ½, on net scores, and both partners get the pair's points. The Team table counts every match between the sides once for the side that played it. You can add a bonus for winning the match, and a Nassau on the same match for money, round by round.
Set it up
- 1Set up a round → A trip or season.
- 2On the Course step, pick the course and how many rounds.
- 3Trip or season → How should this trip be scored? → Match play points. Pick each round's match format.
- 4Sides → Play as two sides? Yes. Name the sides and tap each player onto one.
- 5Partners: each round starts with partners from the same side, playing the other side. On a phone, tap a player, then tap where they go; on a computer, pick each player's seat round by round.
Trip with rotating partners
Pick: Match play points, no sides, new partners each roundA buddies trip where everyone partners everyone, and the best individual record wins.
Each player's points are their own: you earn the points your pair or your singles match wins, round by round. You choose the partners for every round, so over a trip everybody can play with, and against, everybody else.
Set it up
- 1Set up a round → A trip or season.
- 2Trip or season → How should this trip be scored? → Match play points.
- 3Sides → Play as two sides? No.
- 4Partners: pick a round, tap a player, then tap where they go (the two swap); on a computer, pick each player's seat round by round. "Same as" (with the first round's name) copies the first round's pairings.
Stroke play trip
Pick: Stroke play, counting your own net to par each roundLow total over the trip wins, and you still want a scramble or Chapman day in the middle.
Every round gives each player one score, their own net to par, added up across the rounds. In a 2v2 best-ball or aggregate round it is still your own net. In a scramble or Chapman round you play one ball as a pair, so each partner gets the team's net to par. With sides, a side's score is its players' total, or the average per player when the sides are uneven; a player who hasn't finished a round yet isn't counted.
Set it up
- 1Set up a round → A trip or season.
- 2Trip or season → How should this trip be scored? → Stroke play. Pick each round's format: individual stroke play, 2v2 best ball, 2v2 aggregate, a 2-player scramble or Chapman.
- 3Sides: optional. Yes for a team table, No for individuals only.
- 4Partners: set for the pairs, scramble and Chapman rounds. Individual rounds keep ordinary tee groups.
Season or league
Pick: Stableford points, or Money onlyA weekly game or a season-long league, played in whatever format the week calls for.
Stableford points adds up each player's Stableford points across the rounds. Money only has no points at all: the standings are the money each player won, round by round. Any format can be played on either.
Set it up
- 1Set up a round → A trip or season.
- 2Trip or season → set round 1's date, then Fill dates from round 1: Weekly.
- 3How should this trip be scored? → Stableford points or Money only.
- 4Add next week's round from the trip page whenever you're ready.
Playing Pinehurst, Greensome or alternate shot? Pick Chapman for that round. How Chapman works ›
How scoring works, and why
Each rule is the one the app keeps, with the reason we chose it.
One points system per trip
The trip asks "How should this trip be scored?" once, and every round counts toward that answer the same way. Points are never converted between systems, so match points are never added to Stableford points. A round only offers the formats its trip can count, so a mismatch can't be picked.
Why: A converted point is a number nobody at the bar can check.
Side games are money, never points
Skins, closest to the pin, long drive, birdies, presses and a Nassau settle with their own round. They never move a trip's points or scores. On a Match play points or Stroke play trip, the Money table adds them up across the trip.
Why: The cup is decided by the golf. The side games are for the side money.
Partners are set round by round
Each round keeps its own partners. Change round 3's pairs and only round 3 changes: earlier rounds keep the points they were played for. A round's partners can be changed on the trip page until that round starts.
Why: A result already played should never move because of a decision made later.
A Stableford day is its own round
A Match play points or Stroke play trip doesn't offer Stableford rounds, because its standings can't count them. Want one anyway? Set it up as its own round, outside the trip, with its own leaderboard and its own settle-up, and let the group decide what it means.
Why: One points system per trip, with no exceptions to explain on the 18th green.
The series pot: Individual, or "Winning side takes it"
A trip can add an optional pot on the trip page: everyone pays the same entry fee, and it pays out once every round is finished. On a Match play points or Stroke play trip it pays by place on the Individual table, or, when the trip has sides, "Winning side takes it": the whole pot goes to the winning side, split evenly among its players. Level sides split the pot, half to each side. Everyone on the roster pays in, so put every player on a side.
Why: A trip played as sides is about the side. One without sides is about each player.
Ties share a place
On a Match play points or Stroke play trip, players level on points or on score share the place, with no count-back. A pot splits a shared place's money evenly.
Why: A playoff on paper isn't golf.
A missed round shows as "2 of 3 rounds"
On a Stroke play trip a player who missed a round keeps a place on the rounds they finished, with "2 of 3 rounds" beside their name so nobody is misled. A round still being played shows live and counts once it's finished. On a Match play points trip, a round you sat out simply earns no points.
Why: Life happens on trips. The table says so instead of hiding it.
Side games on a trip
- Each round has its own side games. When you set up the trip, every side game has a "Plays in" row: tap R1, R2, R3 to pick the rounds it runs in, so one day can be skins and the next closest to the pin. A round you add later starts with the side games of the round before it.
- Each round settles its side games with the rest of its money, when that round is final.
- On a Match play points or Stroke play trip, the Money table adds them up across the trip. On a Money only trip the money is the standings.
- The series pot is separate from the side games: one entry fee for the whole trip, paid out once every round is finished.
- Side games never change the trip's points or scores.
Common questions
How do you score a Ryder Cup–style golf trip?
Use Match play points with two sides. Every round is matches inside each group, a hole won is 1 point and a halved hole ½ on net scores, and the Team table shows which side is ahead across the whole trip.
Can partners change every round?
Yes. You set each round's partners, and each round keeps its own, so changing a later round never changes an earlier result. A round's partners can be changed until that round starts.
Can we play a scramble or Chapman round on a stroke play trip?
Yes. On a Stroke play trip, a 2-player scramble or Chapman round gives each partner the team's net to par, and every other round counts each player's own net to par.
Do skins and side games count toward the trip standings?
Not toward points or scores. Side games, presses and a Nassau are money only: they settle with their round and never change the points or the scores. On a Money only trip the standings are the money, so there they do count.
What happens if someone misses a round?
On a Stroke play trip they keep a place on the rounds they finished, shown as "2 of 3 rounds". On a Match play points trip, a missed round earns no points.
Does BetLoopr handle the money on a golf trip?
It works out who owes whom, to the cent: each round settles its own money, and an optional series pot pays out when the trip is over. BetLoopr never holds or moves money; your group settles up however it already does.
Set up your trip
Tap Set up a round, choose A trip or season, and answer one question about how it's scored. Your draft is saved as you go.