Open Birdie Pools

Open the Menu drawer and tap Birdie Pools. You'll see a list of any pools you're already part of, plus two buttons: Create New Pool and Join Pool.

Tap Create New Pool to start your own. You can also find a Birdie Pool card on Home for every active pool you're in — a quick-access shortcut to the leaderboard.

One per course: You can have multiple Birdie Pools going at once, but each pool is locked to a single course and tee. Most groups run one per season per home course.

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Configure the Pool

Give the pool a name, pick the course and tee — this locks every future round. Only rounds played on that exact course/tee combo count toward the pool.

Pick the scoring mode: Net (75% handicap allowance, strict net under par, gross cap of par + 1) or Gross (pure birdie or better). Set start and end dates, the wager amount, and settlement mode (Winner-Take-All or Top 3 at 60/30/10).

Net vs Gross: Net mode rewards every player fairly regardless of handicap — the 18-index and the scratch player both have a real shot. Gross mode is a pure birdie race.

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Invite Friends

Every pool gets a 6-character share code and a deep link. Share either with your group — text, Slack, wherever.

Your friends open the app, go to Menu → Birdie Pools → Join Pool, and paste the code. They're in. Members can join any time after the pool starts — their hole count starts from their join date.

Fair late-joiners: The app tracks how many rounds each member has played since joining (rounds_counted), so mid-season joiners aren't unfairly disadvantaged when ties break by rounds played.

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Play Rounds at the Pool Course

Just play. Every round you finish on the pool's course and tee gets auto-evaluated when you tap Finish. Any birdies you haven't already claimed on a given hole get banked to your card.

Each hole can only be claimed once per member. Make a birdie on #7 today and you've locked that square in — a second birdie on #7 next month doesn't double-count. To win, you need birdies on all 18 different holes.

Back-9 rounds count too: Play the back nine only? The app still evaluates holes 10–18 against the pool. Same for 9-hole rounds on the front.

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Track Live Progress

The pool detail page has three tabs. The Leaderboard tab ranks members by holes claimed — who's closest to 18, who's pushing through the back nine of the pool.

The My Holes tab shows your personal 18-hole grid: green squares are claimed birdies, grey squares are still open. The Info tab shows pool rules, dates, settlement mode, and the share code.

Live updates: The leaderboard refreshes in real time as anyone's rounds finish — you'll see a friend bank a hole the moment they tap Finish on their round.

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Win or Settle Up

The pool auto-closes the moment someone hits 18 out of 18. That member wins the pot. If the end date arrives first, the highest count wins — ties split the prize.

Settlement is automatic: the app uses a min-transfers algorithm to reduce who owes whom to the fewest possible payments. Winner-Take-All pays one winner; Top 3 splits 60% / 30% / 10% with tie-aware coalescing.

Host controls: The pool creator can extend the end date or cancel the pool from the Info tab. Canceling refunds nothing — it just stops evaluation. Extending gives everyone more time to chase 18.

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More Guides

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The Season-Long Birdie Chase

A Birdie Pool is the classic season-long format at a private club — a group of members chasing one birdie on every hole over months of rounds. The first to collect all 18 wins the pot. Settle Up Golf automates the bookkeeping so nobody has to run a spreadsheet: tap Finish on a round, and any new birdies on your home course get banked automatically.

Because each hole can only be claimed once per member, the hard holes are what decide the pool. Anyone can rip a birdie on the short par 5 with the reachable green. The #1-handicap par 4 that nobody birdies twice a season? That's the hole that ends the race — and that's why playing more rounds matters: not just for the birdie rate, but for hitting the handful of holes nobody's claimed yet.

Want the rules in depth? Read the full explainer on the Birdie Pool format — Net vs Gross, the 75% handicap allowance, settlement modes, and strategy.

How to Run a Birdie Pool