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A popular way to create pairings for competitive events in the golf association environment is by using waves. The players in the event are split into multiple waves where, many times, the event is played using:
Multiple courses
Multiple rounds
Two tee starts (#1 & #10)
AM and PM waves
By doing this, golf associations can maximize the number of rounds played within a day while keeping the competition fair. Our Waves feature allows users to quickly and easily set up these wave pairings.
Before creating your wave pairings, the following event setup steps need to be completed:
Once all these necessary event setup steps are completed, go to Event > Wave Pairings to begin the wave setup.
Round Settings:
The first step in the setup process is selecting the round(s) to create wave pairings. Wave pairings can be created using one or two rounds (as shown below).
Pairings:
When creating wave pairings, you will be provided with two options to create the pairings:
Keep Exact Pairings from Previous Round: This option is used if you want to keep the exact pairings as in the previous round but switch course, starting holes, swap AM & PM times, etc. For example, you are using two courses but don't want the pairing group to change between the rounds, and we can have the groups swap courses but keep the same pairing groups. Note: Typically, you will only create the "wave" using one round when using this option.
Create New Pairings: This option is used if you would like to change the pairings between rounds and switch courses, starting holes, swap AM & PM times, etc. For example, you are using two courses and want the pairing group to change between the rounds. Note: Typically, you will create the "wave" using two rounds when using this option.
Both of these options will be discussed in further detail below.
Pairings - Keep Exact Pairings from Previous Round:
When using the option to keep exact pairings from the previous round, you will define which round to copy and how the pairings should be swapped between rounds (as shown below).
The following options are available to determine how the pairings are swapped between rounds:
Players swap courses: Pairing groups swap courses. Only available when the selected round used multiple courses.
Players swap starting tees: Pairing groups swap starting holes. Only available when the selected round has different starting holes.
Players swap AM & PM tee times: Pairing groups swap AM & PM Tee times. Only available the selected round used AM and PM tee times.
Reverse pairing group order within the wave: Reverses the pairings group. Only available if the previous pairings were created using waves.
Maintain group number: Creates and maintains the group number from the selected round to the new round for the pairing group, but adjusted the course, starting hole, tee time if those options were selected.
Pairings - Create New Pairings:
When selecting the option to create new pairings, various options are provided to create the wave pairings:
Course Settings
Players & Pairings Settings
Player Order
Second Round Settings (when using two rounds)
Course Settings:
The course settings area has a few options that will determine how waves are organized.
Two Courses: Enable this option if two courses are used within one round. For instance, one wave may play the East course, while another may play the West course on the same day.
Two Tee Starts: Enable this option if you start players on the front nine and the back nine.
AM & PM Tee Times: Enable this option if you need a morning wave and an afternoon wave.
Different Tee Times in Round 2: In most cases where two rounds are used, the tee times stay the same both days. However, sometimes the tee times may need to differ on Round 2 for a variety of reasons. By enabling this option, you can set the Round 2 tee times differently from Round 1.
After enabling the desired options, enter the course/tee parameters below:
Course/Side:
Select the course that will be used.
Select the side. In most cases, 18-hole rounds are played. Therefore "All 18" should be selected. Otherwise, select the 9-hole side(s) that will be played.
Tee: Select the tee that will be played for each course: You can use default tees if you have them set. Remember that you can override and change the tees later by going to Rounds > Edit Pairings.
Starting Hole: Select the starting hole for each course. Select the two starting holes for each course using a "two tee" start (e.g., Hole 1 and Hole 10).
Interval: Select the tee time intervals here. If the intervals alternate times, enter the intervals separated by commas. For instance, if the tee time intervals alternate between 8 minutes and 9 minutes, enter "8,9".
Tee Times: Enter the first time for each wave.
Player and Pairings Settings:
In the Player and Pairing Settings area, additional options are needed to determine how the wave pairings tee sheet is organized.
Division: In some cases, multiple divisions are used to create wave pairings. A wave can include a single division or multiple divisions. If multiple divisions are included in a wave, pairing groups can be placed in "blocks" (a subset of a wave) to organize each wave's divisions further. A single pairing group will never include players from multiple divisions.
If multiple divisions are used to create wave pairings, move the toggle switch to "Yes" and select the divisions.
If multiple divisions are not used to create waves, leave the toggle switch to "No" and select the "All Golfers" division.Pairing Group Size: Select the size of the pairing groups for all waves.
Small groups should go: In many cases, the pairing group sizes within a wave are not the same. For instance, you may have a wave full of threesomes with one odd group playing as a twosome. In this case, would you like the twosome to be placed in the front or back of the wave?
Add Starter's Time every: If starter's times (gaps) need to be added within the wave pairings, enter the parameters here.
Player Order:
In the Player Order area, you need to determine how the players will be ordered before splitting into waves and within their pairings groups.
Before splitting into waves, order players by: You must establish player order before creating wave pairings. You will be able to split players into waves by the following options:
Previous Results: Only available if a previous round has results. Order the players by previous results before splitting them into waves (as shown below).
Using the pair by previous results, you will need to determine how players are ordered within a wave. Use the following options to determine and manage player order within a wave:Order: Order used to place players on the pairing based on previous results.
Leaders off last: Players are ordered in the pairings by rank in the selected single-round or multi-round Stroke Play or Stableford tournament, with leaders playing in the final pairing group.
Leaders off first: This method is the same as the "Leaders Off Last" method, except the player order is reversed. Players are ordered in the pairings by rank in the selected single-round or multi-round Stroke Play or Stableford tournament, with leaders playing in the first pairing group.
Reverse Horseshoe (Only Two Tee Starts): Only available with a two tee start, Like the previous two options, this method uses previous tournament results to determine the pairings. It uses two starting holes, typically holes #1 and #10. The top half of the field starts on hole #1 (leaders off last), and the bottom half starts on hole #10 (last place off last). This allows more pairing groups to get on the course in a shorter amount of time.
Round: Select the previous round results to use.
Tournament: Select the tournament being used to create the pairings.
Tie Breaking: If the selected tournament does not use a tie-breaking method (retains ties), select a secondary tie-breaker to determine the pairing order further.
Within a pairing group, order players: The player order can be further drilled down within pairing groups. For instance, if the pairing group is ascending, the player with the lowest player order # in the pairing group will be placed in position #1 in that pairing group.
Custom Field: Order players by a custom field (e.g., entry number, seed, age, etc.) before splitting them into waves (as shown below).
Player order is generally determined by entry number, but other custom fields can be used as well. Select to order by "Entry Number" (or another custom field), then select to order the players in ascending order or descending order.
When using a custom field, you will also need to determine how players are ordered within a wave. Use the following options to determine and manage player order within a wave:Within a wave, order players: After the players are split into waves, how would you like them ordered within the waves?
Ascending - Order low to high.
Descending - Order high to low.
Alternate - Ascending on entry number, but alternate the holes. Note: Only available when using "two tee" starts.
Reverse Horseshoe - Ascending on entry number; split the group into two halves; if an odd number of golfers, the first half is bigger; reverse the first group and place on first starting tee; place the second half on the second starting tee. Available only when using "two tee" starts.
Within a wave, by division, order players (Multiple Divisions Only): Only available when multiple divisions are used. How would you like them ordered within the divisions after the players are split into waves by division?
Ascending - Order low to high.
Descending - Order high to low.
Within a block, order players (Multiple Divisions Only): Only available when multiple divisions are used. Blocks are subsets within a wave and are used to separate divisions within a wave. Select to order players within each block by ascending, descending, alternate, or reverse horseshoe order.
Within a pairing group, order players: The player order can be further drilled down within pairing groups. For instance, if the pairing group is ascending, the player with the lowest player order # in the pairing group will be placed in position #1 in that pairing group.
Random: Order players randomly before splitting them into waves (as shown below).
Spread Apart: When creating random pairings in Waves you can also spread apart players based on custom fields. When using this option, players with different custom field values are chosen to populate the pairings group to ensure maximum diversity. Note: Only Custom Fields that contain answers for all the members in the Event/League roster will be shown in the dropdown.
Second Round Settings:
If creating wave pairings for two rounds, some additional options can further modify your wave pairings.
Players swap courses: If two courses are being used within both rounds, you likely want the players to swap courses. By doing this, the players will have played both courses by the end of Round 2.
Players swap starting tees: Players will swap starting tees if a "two tee" start is used. For instance, if a player started on Hole #1 on Round 1, they will start on Hole #10 for Round 2.
Players swap AM & PM Times: Players who have played in the AM on Round 1 will play in the PM in Round 2 and vice versa.
Reverse pairing group order within the wave: Pairing groups in the front of the wave will be moved to the back for Round 2 and vice versa.
Maintain Group Number: Each pairing group will be assigned a group number for round 1. By selecting this option, pairing groups will retain the same group number for Round 2.
After completing the wave setup page, click "Next" on the bottom right to view the Wave Summary.
Wave Summary:
A wave summary will be provided before pairings are finalized when using the pairing option of "Create New Pairings." The waves summary page gives you a preview of the wave schedule all on one page and allows you to make further adjustments.
From here, you can change the number of players in each wave (as shown below).
You can also change course assignments for each wave by clicking and dragging on the right. If two rounds are being played, you can change the course assignments by round by unlocking the blue lockbox and then clicking and dragging (as shown below).
If multiple divisions are used to create wave pairings, follow these steps:
Select the divisions for each wave. If a wave includes multiple divisions, click the "+" button to add an additional "block" in the wave. Select the division for each block.
Enter the number of players for each block.
Click the dropdown to the right to select if the odd group (if any) should be first or last in each block.
Select (if necessary) the option to reverse the block order in round 2.
The sequence below shows the process.
When finished with the summary, click on "Create Wave Pairings," and the round(s) pairings will be generated.
Changes in the Wave Schedule:
In some cases, changes to the original wave schedule need to be made. Maybe there was a mistake in the setup or a decision to change how the schedule is organized. If this is the case, you can go back to Event > Wave Pairings > Edit. Make the desired changes, then recreate the wave schedule.
In the sequence above, we go back to the wave settings to change the AM starting time. We've swapped some course assignments on the Wave Summary Page. After the desired changes are made, regenerate the wave pairings.
Changes in the Players part of a Wave Schedule:
Sometimes there are more specific changes like drop-outs, swapping of individuals, tee changes for a couple of players. This can be done by going to Rounds > Edit Existing Pairings.
On the Edit Existing Pairings page, entry numbers will be listed under each player's name. To the right of their name, their wave number will also be listed.
Editing Wave number on Pairings Page:
In the event you made changes to the pairings which also impact the wave pairing number. You can easily adjustment wave number in the edit existing pairing page. Easily modify wave numbers inline, without recreating waves. To do this:
Click "Assign Waves."
Select the groups you wish to reassign wave pairing numbers.
Set the Wave Group Number (as shown below).
Click "Apply."
Click "Save Pairings."
Wave Reports:
You can print a wave tee sheet using the Report Composer. There is a template available for threesomes and foursomes.
The wave tee sheet shows the group number, hole, and tee time for each round. Take a look at the example below.
You can always create a copy of this report and make any edits, if necessary.
If you would like to create a custom wave report with the report composer, you will also have the option to set the content for each wave. This way the report will break the report by waves (as shown below).
You can also enable the "Page Break" option, or select the "Break Page after each Wave" option - from the Page Control for reports that have more columns (e.g., Scoring Station Sheet), and apply sorting and filtering with respect to the wave and wave related fields.