Setting Up Your Course

How to configure your course profile, loops, routings, and what is in play each day

6 min read·Updated February 2026·🚀 Getting Started

Getting your course properly configured is one of the most important things you'll do in TurfWise. Your course setup feeds directly into weather intelligence, disease prediction models, spray calculations, work planning, and reports. If this is wrong, those features give you wrong results.

What this page does

The Course Settings page in Settings lets you define the physical courses your club manages, set up 9-hole loops within each course, create routings (which loops are played together), and record what routing is in play each day.

This matters because TurfWise uses your course structure to organise tasks, calculate areas for spray applications, and generate accurate reports.

When you would use this

You're setting up TurfWise for the first time
Your club has added or changed a course
You need to define which routing is in play today
You're setting up loops for a multi-course club
Spray or reporting calculations are showing unexpected results (usually means course setup is incomplete)

What you need before you start

Have these details ready:

Course name -- as it should appear on reports (for example "East Course", "Main 18")
Course type -- Unspecified, Main 18, Main 27, East 18, West 18, Par 3, Practice, or Other
Loop names -- how your club refers to the 9-hole sections (for example "Front 9" / "Back 9", or "A" / "B" / "C" for a 27-hole course)
Routing names -- which loops combine to make a playable routing (for example "A+B", "B+C")
Default routing -- the most commonly played combination

Set your location in Weather Settings

GPS coordinates are configured separately in Settings > Weather, not on this page. Disease prediction and weather engines use those coordinates, so make sure they're accurate before relying on weather-dependent features. See Weather Intelligence.

How to set up your course (step by step)

Open Course Settings

Go to Settings in the sidebar, then click Course Settings under the Club Setup section. Or go directly to /settings/courses.

Course settings page

This article refers to a live TurfWise screen. Media is omitted here so the written steps stay current across releases.

The Courses and Routings page with course, loop, and routing sections

Create your course (or select an existing one)

If your club already has a course listed, select it from the dropdown. If not, enter a course name and course type, then click Add course.

For multi-course clubs, create each course separately. You'll set up loops and routings for each one.

Add 9-hole loops

Each course is made up of 9-hole loops. Enter a loop name (for example "Front 9" or "Loop A") and a sort order (1, 2, 3, etc.), then click Add loop.

After creating a loop, click Generate 1-9 holes to create the individual hole records within it.

Why loops?

TurfWise uses loops as the building blocks for routings. A standard 18-hole course has two loops. A 27-hole course has three. This structure lets you define which combination of loops is in play on any given day.

Create routings

A routing is a named combination of loops. For an 18-hole course, you might have one routing called "Full Course" that includes both loops. For a 27-hole course, you might have "A+B", "B+C", and "A+C".

Enter a routing name, select the loops to include, optionally tick Set as default routing, then click Add routing.

Set what's in play today

Use the In Play section to record which routing is being played on a given date. Select a date and a routing, then click Set in play.

This information appears across TurfWise so everyone knows which holes are in play.

What happens after setup

Once your course is configured:

Weather intelligence uses your coordinates (set in Settings > Weather) to pull local weather data
Disease prediction runs models based on your location (set in Settings > Weather), grass types, and conditions
Spray logging can calculate application rates based on area
Work planning can assign tasks to specific course areas
Reports reference the correct course name and structure

If you skip setup or leave it incomplete, these features either won't work or will give you default/placeholder values.

Common problems and fixes

Weather data doesn't match my area

Check your GPS coordinates in Settings > Weather (not on this page). If they're pointing to the wrong location, all weather-dependent features (including disease risk) will be inaccurate. You can manually adjust coordinates there for better accuracy.

I can't see course settings

Course settings are only visible to managers and admins (Head Greenkeeper, Course Manager, Admin roles). If you can't see the Course Settings card in Settings, your role doesn't have access. Ask your administrator.

I have a 27-hole course -- how do I set it up?

Create one course entry, then add three 9-hole loops (for example A, B, C). Then create routings for each combination you play (A+B, B+C, A+C). Set the most common combination as the default routing.

Spray calculations look wrong

Spray application rates depend on accurate area data. If your loops and holes are set up but area data hasn't been added, calculations will be based on defaults. Check that hole areas are populated.

The "In Play" section doesn't remember what I set

In Play is set per date. If you change the date picker, it shows what's set for that date. If nothing is set for a particular day, TurfWise uses the default routing. Make sure you have a default routing assigned.

Good habits that prevent issues later

Set your GPS coordinates accurately in Settings > Weather from the start. Moving them later doesn't retrospectively fix weather or disease data that was already calculated.
Use consistent naming for loops and routings. "Front 9" is clearer than "Loop 1" for your team. Whatever you choose, stick with it.
Set the default routing -- this is what TurfWise falls back to when nobody has explicitly set the in-play routing for the day.
Set in-play routing daily if your club rotates. This takes 10 seconds and keeps reports and planning accurate.
Review your setup in the first month -- after you've used TurfWise for a few weeks, check that weather outputs match local conditions, spray calculations look sensible, and area labels make sense to your team.

Where this fits in TurfWise

Course setup is foundational. Almost everything in TurfWise references it:

Today page -- weather and disease data are location-dependent
Weather + Spraying -- spray rate calculations use course areas
Work Planning -- tasks can be assigned to specific course areas
Reports -- course name and structure appear on committee packs and weekly reports
Disease prediction -- models are calibrated to your exact location

If course setup is incomplete, you'll see gaps and placeholder values across TurfWise. Getting it right during your first week saves confusion later.

Where to find it

Open Settings in the sidebar, then click Course Settings. Or go directly to /settings/courses.