Can it do it?
Can Swilkin do it?
Almost certainly. Ask the way you'd say it on the first tee — or browse every answer below, honest nos included.
Good question — we don't have a written answer yet.
Send it over and a human gets back to you. (Odds are the app already does it.)
Ask us →Keeping score
Can it keep score for a normal round with my buddies? That's the heart of it. Start a round, add your buddies (no app required on their end), and score hole-by-hole from one phone or everyone's own. The card does the math — gross, net, who's up. Can we play a scramble? Scramble, shamble, best ball (1 or 2 net), stableford, match play, individual stroke — casual rounds and tournaments both. Pick the format at setup and the scoring screen fits itself to it. My wife and I play together — is this a guys-only thing? Not even slightly. Every format works for every group — ladies' nines, couples games, mixed events, junior scrambles. Tees, handicaps, and competitions all respect how your group actually plays. Can I post a round I already played? Yes — Post a score takes a past date and counts toward your stats and season like any other round. Does it know my course? Search any course — slope, rating, and tees import automatically, and GPS suggests the courses near you on the first tee. If we're missing one, add it once and your whole group has it. Can everyone score from their own phone? Yes — one link (or a short code) opens your group's card on every phone, and scores sync live. One person can also just score for the cart. No accounts needed to punch numbers. Does it work on the course with bad signal? Scores you punch queue up and sync when signal returns; the card never blocks you mid-hole. (Live boards for spectators need a connection on their end, of course.) Does it replace our paper scorecard? It can — or ride along. Plenty of groups keep paper in the cart and post to Swilkin at the 19th hole with Post a score. Either way the history, stats, and money stay.
Handicaps
Does it do handicaps? Full WHS math — course handicap from index, slope and rating per tee, strokes falling on the right holes. Everyone can play different tees and the net math stays honest. Can a 9-hole round have handicaps? Yes. Nine-hole rounds use proper nine-hole handicap math, and the game you're playing decides how half strokes carry — hole-by-hole games keep the half, total-score games round it. Can it estimate my handicap if I don't have an official one? No — Swilkin is not a handicap authority and does not calculate an index. Type your WHS or GHIN index on your profile and every net score, board, and bet uses it. Without one you play off scratch, and the app says so rather than guessing a number for you.
Bets & money
Can it handle skins? Yes — skins with carryovers, validation, gross or net, for any group size. Set the stake on the first tee and the running damage updates as you score. What betting games does it know? Match play, Nassau (with presses), skins, wolf, vegas, rabbit, hammer, and stableford — plus stacked combos on the same round. If you talk it on the first tee, the engine settles it on 18. Can we press a Nassau? Yes — manual presses or auto-press when you go down, your call on the first tee. Every press settles as its own line on the receipt so nobody argues in the parking lot. Can it settle the money at the end? One tap. The Damage shows exactly who pays who across every game on the round — and the season page keeps the running ledger all year. Pay straight through Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App links. Does Swilkin hold the money? No, and it never will. Swilkin keeps the score and shows every dollar's path; the money moves between you — Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or a beer. We're the scorekeeper, not the bank. Can two teams of three play against each other? Yes — teams don't have to be even. For money matches you choose per-man stakes or matched pots, and the engine splits odd pennies fairly. Can the loser of the bet pay through the app? The settle screen deep-links into Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App with the amount pre-filled for whoever you owe. Swilkin never touches the money — it just makes paying up one tap. What's a "squared up" stamp? A one-tap 💸 when a round's money is squared — purely celebratory. Swilkin never tracks debts or shames anyone; a missing stamp means nothing.
Stats & rivalries
Can I see my lifetime record against a buddy? That's the rivalries board — wins, losses, streaks, and (if you play for money) the running net against every regular opponent, filterable by season or all-time. Does it track my stats? Scoring average, best round, birdies and eagles, and — when you track them — fairways, greens, and putts, with honest benchmarks for your handicap. Stats only count rounds you actually logged. Can I see how I compare to other golfers my handicap? If your index is on your profile, your stats page lines your fairways, greens, and putts up against the typical ranges for that handicap band — so "what should I work on" has a real answer. No index on file, no comparison: we won't invent a handicap to measure you against.
Your crew
Do my friends need the app to play? No. Add anyone by first name and score away. Later, send them their record with one tap — they claim it and every round you've played together is already on their account. Can people follow along from home? Share the round or event link — the live board is watchable from any browser, no app, no login. Can we attach photos to a round? Yes — anyone in the round can add photos, tag who's in them, and they show up in the group's feed and on profiles. Tagged people can always remove their own tag. What's the feed on the home screen? Your people's golf — rounds, settled matches, jackets won, photos — ranked by who you actually play with. React, talk trash in the comments, and tune it (star the sacred crew, mute the noisy ones) from any golfer's page. Can I fix it when the same buddy exists twice? Yes — merge the duplicates and their rounds, bets, and history fold into one golfer. It's on their profile page, and it can't be done to a claimed account without them. Can we run the same game every Saturday without setting it up again? Yes — "Run it back" clones last week's crew, course, and money matches in one tap, and saved presets keep your Saturday setup ready to load anytime. Can I organize who's coming on Saturday? Start a "Who's in?" — share one link, people add themselves (no app needed), and when you're ready the game converts straight into a scoring round. Can we make our regular group official? Make it a Crew — your Saturday game, the trip guys, the ladies' nine. One tap adds the whole crew to a round, and the crew season page keeps its own records and money ledger.
Events, leagues & trips
Can it run a real tournament? Yes — sign-ups, field management, flights, tee times, live leaderboards, a big-screen TV board, and a public event page your players can find. Built for the events Golf Genius prices out. Can players sign themselves up for my event? Yes. Open sign-ups with a shareable link, a field cap with an automatic waitlist, handicap limits if you want them, and team sign-ups for pairs events. No anonymous entries — every sign-up is a real account, so your field is real people. Can we do flights? Yes — flighted or unified, gross or net, and each flight can have its own board. Flights nest inside the competition, so the overall and the flights all stay honest at once. Can it show a leaderboard on the clubhouse TV? Every event has a full-bleed TV board — open it on any browser, cast it, and it updates live as groups post. Themeable to your event's look. Can it run a season-long league? Yes — points leagues and team match-play round-robins, with season standings that update as each week posts. A league is just a season of rounds; Swilkin keeps the running score. Can my club have its own page? Yes — clubs, series, and events each get a real public page at app.swilkin.com/yourclub: your colors, your photos, your champions wall, live boards. Yours, not ours — Swilkin stays in the footer. Do champions get remembered? Forever. Awards attach to the player — the winners' circle shows every jacket by name and year, and organizers can backfill decades of history without retyping a single scorecard. Can it do a calcutta? Yes — run the auction, track who bought whom, and the payout math settles itself off the final board. Can it handle a golf trip? Yes — a trip is just a series: multiple rounds, running team points (Ryder-cup style if you want), season-style money across the week, and a crew to keep the same group together. Can organizers stop players from seeing scores mid-round? Yes — an event can hide other groups' scores during play so the finish stays dramatic, then reveal the board at the end. How do ties get broken? Your call at setup: hole-by-hole countback from 18 (the classic), USGA segment countback, or settle it as a tie. The board applies it automatically and shows its work.
Straight answers
What happens if someone enters a wrong score? Anyone in the round can propose a correction; the group approves and every downstream number — bets included — recomputes. There's a full audit trail, so history never quietly rewrites. What if we disagree about a bet? Raise a dispute right on the bet — your note goes on it verbatim, the disputed money drops out of the totals until it's fixed, and anyone can correct the setup. Honest numbers only. Can I cancel a round that shouldn't count? Mark it void — scores stay stored for the record, but stats and money exclude it. The person who started the round can undo the void if the group changes its mind. Can kids use it? Yes — a junior does everything except play for money. Scoring, stats, events and every game on the list work the same; the one control that changes is the stake, where cash and beers are switched off with the reason under them: "Money matches are 18+ — everything else works the same." The date of birth on file is what answers it. How much does it cost? Free for golfers — scoring, bets, stats, rivalries, all of it. The club and organizer event tooling is free today too; paid plans for clubs are planned, not live. Nobody in your foursome ever pays to get charged a skin. Is my data private? Rounds are private to the people in them until someone shares the link — and anyone holding a shared link can see that card, no login needed, so treat it like a photo you texted. You can export everything you own as JSON or delete your account in-app — rounds you shared stay on your buddies' cards, unlinked from you. Is this a gambling app? No. Swilkin is your golf life — the rounds, the people, the club. The money layer just keeps score of the games your group already plays, between yourselves; nothing is wagered through the app and Swilkin never holds a dollar.