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How to track rounds, read your summary, and install the app on your phone.

Quick Start

  1. Tap Start New Round on the home screen.
  2. Choose round length (18, Front 9, or Back 9), tracking mode, and optional target or course. If you select a course, you must also select a tee — the scorecard must load before the round starts.
  3. To enter par manually, use Start Without Course at the bottom of round setup.
  4. Enter each hole in order. Data saves automatically as you go.
  5. Use the bottom bar to move between holes: Next is the main action; pick a hole from the dropdown or tap Summary (small button on the left) when you want a mid-round review.
  6. From Summary, export JSON, edit the round, or finish when you are done.

New rounds default to Performance Tracking. You can switch to Basic Tracking anytime before starting. Handicap comparison (My Game, Typical Golfer, or Play-to-Index) is chosen after the round in Performance Analysis — not during setup.

Tracking Modes

RoundWise offers two tracking modes. Both use the same navigation and save your round locally. Performance Tracking adds observations during the round and unlocks coaching analysis afterward.

Basic Tracking

Fast scorekeeping with traditional golf statistics — score, putts, GIR, and penalties. Best when you want familiar percentages without extra on-course taps.

After the round, open your Round Summary for score and traditional stats.

Performance Tracking

Track additional observations (tee result, green shot, around green, first putt distance, and more) to unlock Performance Analysis and coaching takeaways after the round. Still records score, putts, and penalties.

Hole flow follows your shot sequence: tee → approach → green → scoring fields → optional notes. Clubs are optional in both modes.

Analysis is rules-based — helpful for practice focus, not official strokes gained.

Field Definitions

Shared fields

Par

Hole par (3, 4, or 5). Auto-filled when you start a round with a course and tee (scorecard loaded). Use Start Without Course to set par manually on each hole.

GIR (Green in Regulation)

Official GIR: was the green reached within par minus 2 strokes (par 3 by 1, par 4 by 2, par 5 by 3)? RoundWise derives this from score minus putts on completed holes. It is not the same as whether your recorded approach hit the green.

Putts

Number of putts on the green for this hole.

Penalties

Penalty strokes counted on this hole (OB, water, lost ball, etc.).

Penalty off the tee?

Of your penalty strokes, how many happened off the tee? Used in summary penalty breakdowns.

Score

Your total score on the hole. Starts at 0 until you set it.

Additional Notes

Optional free-text notes for the hole (expand to edit).

Basic Tracking only

Playable Approach

After your tee shot, did you have a normal look at the green — not a punch-out, forced layup, or recovery because of trouble?

Avoided Short Side

When you missed the green, did you avoid leaving yourself on the short side of the pin? Only shown when GIR is No.

Performance Tracking only

Tee Result

Where your tee shot left you: Clean Look, Awkward but Playable, Punch-Out / Layup, or Lost / OB / Water.

Club used off the tee

Optional. Which club you hit from the tee.

Approach Distance

Yardage bucket for your approach shot: <50, 50–100, 100–150, 150–200, or 200+ yards.

Club used for approach

Optional. Which club you used for the approach.

Approach Result (Green Hit)

Did the recorded green-attempt / approach shot hit the green? A later successful approach can be a green hit even after GIR is already lost.

Lie Around Green

When the approach missed the green — where the ball ended up around the green: Fairway / Fringe, Rough, Bunker, or Recovery.

First Putt Distance

Length of your first putt (yard buckets at entry): Inside 1 yd, 1–2 yd, 3–5 yd, 6–10 yd, 11–15 yd, or 15+ yd.

Understanding Performance Analysis

On Round Analysis, Performance Analysis compares your score to a selected benchmark and shows where the gap came from by phase. Positive gap means strokes above expectation; negative means strokes saved vs expectation.

Comparison modes

Choose a comparison mode after the round (not during setup, not saved to your round):

  • My Game — compares with your own prior rated 18-hole history, course-adjusted via Course Rating and Slope. Default when you have at least one eligible prior round. Select a Baseline horizon: Last 5, 10, 20 (default), 50, Season, or All Time. Only rounds played before the round you are reviewing count toward your baseline.
  • Typical Golfer — compares with the typical scoring of a golfer carrying the selected Handicap Index tier (Scratch, 5, 10, 15, or 20). Fallback default when My Game is unavailable.
  • Play-to-Index — compares with a score that plays to the selected Index on this tee.

My Game uses gross_differential_v1 and is independent of the Season Dashboard Handicap Estimate.

Season Dashboard — Playing Level and Current Form

Playing Level is your course-adjusted Score Differential over time (lower is better). It does not use a personal baseline, so your first rated 18-hole round appears. Dashboard filters only choose which rounds are shown — they do not rewrite a round’s differential.

Current Form is recent My Game performance versus your own normal (Last 20 rounds from before each round). Negative / “better than normal” is form, not a permanent skill change: as your baseline catches up, form can return toward even while Playing Level stays better. The summary uses the most recent five form rounds in the current dashboard view.

Playing Level and Current Form use rated 18-hole rounds only. Nine-hole trends are not shown yet.

Phase Form shows whether Driving, Approach, Around Green, Putting, and Penalties are currently better or worse than your recent normal. Negative numbers are better; positive are worse. This is form (your baseline can catch up), not a claim that a phase permanently improved. Only Performance Tracking rounds appear here. Dashboard filters change which rounds are averaged; they do not rewrite an old round’s values.

Tap a Phase Form row for Phase Detail: observed stats such as Green Hit %, Traditional GIR %, 1-Putt %, and 3-Putt % over the same dashboard window. These help explain why a phase looks better or worse than normal. They do not split the Phase Form number into exact stroke sources. Green Hit (recorded green shot) and GIR (regulation) stay separate. 3-Putt % is three or more putts divided by holes with putting recorded, including 0-putt hole-outs in the denominator only. Club-by-club breakdowns stay on Club Performance.

Phase Detail uses the same round window selected on the Season Dashboard. Changing the dashboard window changes which rounds are summarized, but does not rewrite the historical My Game baseline for any round.

Phase Contribution

Phase Contribution shows how your total gap versus the selected benchmark is attributed across Driving, Approach, Around Green, Putting, and Penalties using hole-by-hole performance evidence.

For My Game, phase values are deltas vs your normal game using the same signed numbers: negative is better, positive is worse (for example -2.4, +1.2, 0.0).

Negative values mean better than benchmark (helped your score). Positive values mean worse than benchmark (hurt your score). This is benchmark-gap attribution — not independent ShotLink-style strokes gained.

Categories

  • Driving — from tee result
  • Approach — from whether the recorded green shot hit the green, approach distance, and first putt distance (not official GIR)
  • Around Green — when the green shot missed; short-game shots and lie around green
  • Putting — from putts and first putt distance
  • Penalties — penalty stroke count (tee penalties are not double-counted in Driving)

Benchmark handicap

For Typical Golfer and Play-to-Index, choose a handicap tier (Scratch, 5, 10, 15, or 20) under Compared with. Comparison is chosen on Round Analysis only — those choices recalculate and are not saved to your round. A handicap picked when an older round was created does not control review.

Typical Golfer compares you with the typical scoring of a golfer carrying that Handicap Index. Play-to-Index compares you with a score that plays to that Index on this tee. Typical Golfer uses RoundWise calibration (typical_golfer_v1) — not an official USGA formula.

Confidence

High — most scored holes have tee result, approach distance, first putt distance, and lie (when the green shot missed). Breakdowns are more reliable.

Medium — some performance observations filled across the round. Totals may under-count holes with missing data.

Low — many holes missing context. Totals rely on penalties, putts-only fallbacks, or empty categories. Top takeaways may note lower confidence.

Takeaways

The summary may show up to three Top Takeaways (biggest category contributors) and one Practice Recommendation. Expand "How this was estimated" for per-hole detail and scaling notes.

Reading Your Round Summary & Analysis

Score

Total score, total par, score to par, and averages by par type. For 18-hole rounds, front 9 and back 9 subtotals appear when applicable.

Vs Target

Shown when you picked a target at round start. Compares your score to the per-hole target baseline.

  • Even Par — target = hole par
  • Even Bogey — target = par + 1
  • Bogey+ (Avg +1.5) — hardest 9 holes target double bogey; easiest 9 target bogey
  • Even Double Bogey — target = par + 2

Delta: E = even with target · +N = N over · −N = N under

Putting

Total putts and putts per hole for scored active holes.

Statistics

Playable Approach

Holes where you had a normal approach opportunity (Basic Tracking rounds; also computed for Performance Tracking when recorded).

GIR

Overall and by par 3 / 4 / 5, derived from score minus putts vs par — not from whether the recorded approach hit the green.

Adjusted GIR

GIR percentage counting only holes with a playable approach. Par 3 adjusted GIR matches regular Par 3 GIR.

Avoided Short Side

When you missed the green, how often you avoided the short side.

Penalties

Total penalty strokes, plus how many were off the tee.

Performance Analysis

Appears only for Performance Tracking rounds on Round Analysis. Shows benchmark picker, confidence, phase breakdown, insights, and expandable methodology detail.

Use Edit Round to return to hole entry, Export JSON on a single round, or Finish Round to mark complete. For all rounds at once, use Export RoundWise Backup below. Long-term trends for completed rounds are on the Statistics page from home.

Backing Up Your Rounds

RoundWise currently stores rounds locally on your device (browser storage). They are not synced to the cloud.

We recommend exporting a backup occasionally — before major app updates, when switching phones, or if you might clear browser data.

Downloads every locally stored round as one JSON file (roundwise-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.json). Restore/import is not available yet — keep this file somewhere safe.

App Updates

RoundWise is a Progressive Web App. After a new version is deployed, your installed app may temporarily show an older cached version.

If the latest version doesn't appear:

  1. Close the app completely.
  2. Reopen it from your home screen or browser.
  3. Refresh once if necessary (browser tab or pull-to-refresh).

Installed PWAs cache files for offline use. A refresh after reopening usually picks up the newest build. Your rounds stay on this device unless you clear site data.

Installing the App

RoundWise is a Progressive Web App (PWA). Install it on your home screen for full-screen use and offline access after the first load.

iPhone (Safari)

  1. Open the app in Safari (not Chrome).
  2. Tap the Share button (square with arrow up).
  3. Scroll and tap Add to Home Screen.
  4. Tap Add.

Launch from the home screen icon for the best experience. iOS may show a brief install tip when you first visit.

Android (Chrome)

  1. Open the app in Chrome.
  2. Tap the menu (⋮) or look for an Install app / Add to Home screen banner or prompt.
  3. Confirm install. The app icon appears on your home screen or app drawer.

Exact wording varies by Android version and browser. If no prompt appears, use Chrome menu → Install app or Add to Home screen.

Installed rounds stay on this device in local storage until you clear browser data or finish/export them.

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