Fair Play

How saved rounds are checked, and what that check cannot do.

What we check

When you play signed in, your browser does not send us a score. It sends what you did: for every shot, the club, the aim, the power and the strike. Our server then plays the whole round again with its own copy of the ball physics, each shot starting from where its own copy of the previous shot came to rest, using the wind, pin positions and small shot-to-shot variation it gave your round at the start. The strokes, putts, penalties and statistics we store are the ones our replay produced.

If any shot comes to rest somewhere different on our side (more than 5 centimetres away), the round is not saved. You see this message: "We could not confirm this round on our side, so it was not saved. Your next one will be." Rounds are also not saved if they are sent twice, sent more than 48 hours after they began, finished in under 90 seconds, or use a club that is not allowed from the lie.

What the check cannot do

The check proves that a score follows from the inputs. It cannot prove that a person made the inputs: a program could send perfectly timed swings. We say so plainly, and it is one reason for the next section.

Nothing rides on a score

No wagers, no entry fees and no prizes of any value.

• No names are shown to other players anywhere on the site. Your display name is shown only to you.
• Paying buys rounds, never an advantage. Everyone has the same clubs and the same physics.
• The game handicap is a number for this game only. It is not an official handicap and cannot be used at any real course.

Where a round's layout comes from

The pin positions, the tees, the wind and the time of day of every round are made on our server when the round starts, from a random number the browser never sees. The browser cannot choose an easy day. A bold line is advice like any other: taking one sends us the same things as any shot (club, aim, power, strike), and our replay treats it the same.

The Daily Round

The Daily Round uses one set of pin positions, tee positions and wind per day (dates follow New York time), the same for every player. You can play it as often as you like; the first checked Daily Round you finish that day is the one that counts for your streak.

Visitors

If you play without signing in, nothing about your play is sent to us at all. The free three holes are kept in your own browser, and if you sign in before the fourth tee the same round can be carried on and saved.