The app was officially released during a corporate golf day at Indooroopilly Golf Club near Brisbane last Friday.
More than 60 players (in groups of 3 or 4 players each) took part in the tournament, raising funds for the charity Youngcare (BTW: This is a great charity, please check them out!).
Usually on corporate golf days, scores are kept by players on paper scorecards which are then handed in at the end of the day. During the day, no-one knows who is winning, or even how many holes are left to play for any group other than their own.
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| The final score after 18 holes |
Scratch Golf is different in that it allows for live scoring by every player or group, and the live leaderboard can be viewed by every player as well as tournament organisers and even staff back at the offices of the players who are taking part.
Handicaps and other essential scoring data is calculated by the system and taken into account when showing the relative positioning of groups as the day progresses.
The app also lets players view their own location, and those of all other groups using the app. Messages can be sent to other groups to maintain a healthy level of competition.
The Scratch Golf app doesn't work alone though. A major component of the system - largely unseen by players - is the administration system that the golf club's corporate golf day manager (and the event sponsors themselves) use to organise and manage the entire day from initial inquiry through to the post-play awards ceremony.
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| Map of player locations during play |
We have used a modified HTML-5 approach to the app itself so that updates to the functionality within the system can be made without the need to submit updates to Apple for approval. The actual "app" itself connects a few device-based elements with the HTML content, giving us access to functions such as improved GPS accuracy which cannot be accessed by HTML alone.
This approach is not appropriate for all types of apps, but when used it can also help make for more easily-transportable and flexible apps (for example, much less effort is needed to create the Android version of an app).
If you would like to discuss developing your iPhone, iPad, or Android handset/Tablet idea, check out our website and contact us for a chat.
Live Leaderboard (last 9 holes, timelapse)
