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How to Use the GTM Program

The following is a brief summary of the sequence of basic steps to follow in using the GTM Program to set up and, optionally, score a tournament.  We recommend that new customers follow these steps for a small sample tournament that consists of just a few player groups as a means of gaining experience with program features and their operation.  We're confident that you will become comfortable quickly.
  • Provide Tournament Information and Course Definition
       These features are accessed from the Preparation Menu.  Course Definition is used as the base for several
       tournament functions, most notably the calculation of Course Handicaps from Handicap Indexes and the 
       application of handicap strokes for scoring.  Tournament Information defines how you wish to score a
       tournament.  If your work on a given tournament consists only of tournament setup and scoring with the
       program will not be done, simply choose "Not Used" for the Individual Scoring Categories and do not mark the
       check boxes for Team Scoring.  The User Guide contains a description of all Scoring Categories and Formats.
  • Prepare a Player List
       GTM provides two ways to form a grouped Player List.  The Player List Create/Update choice from the
       Preparation Menu is the simplest and recommended way to form a Player List if your player groups are
       pre-determined (i.e. who is playing with whom is known in advance).  The Pairings Menu provides features for
       automatically forming a Player List by a variety of methods.  See the Pairings Process Overview Help Topic for
       a suumary of these features.
  • Assign Start Times/Tees (optional)
       Although optional, this feature is almost always used in tournament preparation.  It serves as a base for
       communicating with your players and for the preparation of Scorecards, Cart Signs and Bag Tag Labels.  GTM
       provides both Automatic and User-Specified methods for the assignments.
  • Print Scorecards, Cart Signs, Bag Tag Labels (optional)
       Although optional, the preparation of Scorecards and Cart Signs are very valuable features of the program. 
       Also, Bag Tag Labels provide a benefit if you use special bag tags for your players.  The Scorecards 
       produced by GTM can be fully "dotted" to show all handicap strokes.  All three forms include Start Time and
       Tee information if provided.  The Scorecards and Cart Signs can optionally include messages to your players.
     
  • Prepare Prize Lists (optional)
       If you score a tournament with GTM you can automatically match the scoring results with Prize Lists that you 
       define for each scoring category you use.  The Prize List Matching feature includes the capability to limit 
       players and teams to a single prize; the program does all the "juggling" for you.  Even if you don't use the
       automatic prize matching feature, the preparation and printing of prize lists can assist with the presentation of
       your tournament awards.
  • Score the Tournament (optional)
       Another optional feature but one that provides the benefits of ensuring that scoring is done with complete
       accuracy and providing completely tie-broken results automatically.  The more complex your scoring formats, 
       the more valuable the Scoring feature.  Scores Entry is done on a hole-by-hole basis on an easy-to-use display
       screen.  Player groups can be scored completely or partially and you can resume scoring at any time, which
       are features that are especially useful in Shotgun Start events.  In addition to standard scoring in the various
       Scoring Formats provided by the program, you can optionally conduct Individual and/or Team Skins Games "on
       the side", including the capability to produce financial results.
  • Process Results (optional)
       Obviously, this step is done only if you've done Scoring.  Complete tie-broken Tournament Results are provided
       for all Scoring Categories you have specified.  In addition, several types of Special Results are available that 
       can add interest and fun to your tournaments.

    The above is a just basic sequence of steps that will get you started using GTM.  Several other features are available to assist you with tournament preparation -- Match Play Brackets and Player List Re-Pairing are just two.  We recommend that you read through the Help System topics to gain a deeper understanding of program capabilities.