About

Par Groups is intended to simplify the management of recreational golf groups where a single person, an administrator, manages the group. It addresses problems which present themselves when a group becomes large, and therefore, a hassle to manage.

For instance, in a group of regular golfers, as the group grows in membership, a system will be needed to keep track of who is available, and who has a 'spot' for whatever tee-times the admin can reserve. When someone's availability changes after the groups are set, the admin needs a way to find a replacement and update everyone. One might use text messages and a spreadsheet, but this becomes laborious and might require texting, or calling around to find a replacement. Using the Par Groups app, the task can take seconds. Simply uncheck the person who can no longer play, add a check to another person who is shown as available, update the pairings screen, and press the 'save and send' button. Notifications are sent to the members affected and the rest of the group. If the person added is no longer available, the admin is notified of the change, and the next person in line can be added, and so on.

In reality, there are a number of other approaches one might use to manage a group of golfers, but a dedicated app can provide customized functionality, and reduce overall workload to the greatest degree. A dedicated app also allows for additional features, beyond the example mentioned above. Group chats, a group image gallery, private notes, a real-time scorecard, etc. are included features which might be replicated using preexisting technologies, but it would be a major hassle, and probably require juggling different services and apps. It's easier to have everything in one app.

Background

Before development on this app began, I wanted to learn mobile development, and thought making a simple, custom app offering some functionality would be a good way to accomplish that goal. But it was unclear what function it should fulfill. After observing the hassles encountered by my father in managing his large group of regular golfers, I decided a simple app to poll golfers for their availability could be useful and provide the learning experience I wanted.

After choosing the technologies to build the app, and learning a bit about them, I began development. However, as development of the app progressed, complexity increased as I discovered additional features were either required for the sake of privacy, would be generally expected by golfers and administrators, or would benefit my developer skills by their inclusion. Following a much longer development process than initially envisioned, the result is the app in its current state. It has been undergoing beta-testing for about a year with my father's group of golfers, and it seems to be useful and working well.

I hope you will find the app useful, and won't hesitate to suggest improvements and problems through the contact form found on the homepage of pargroups.com.

Thank you,

Derek Schwartz

Attributions

The background image at the top of the homepage is used courtesy of Gene Gallin on Unsplash.com
The background image on the contact page is used courtesy of Johnny Such on Unsplash.com