On an event that uses RSVP, every player is in, out, waitlisted, or hasn't responded — and the field is capped by the round's tee times: a player who RSVPs in when a round is full is placed on the waitlist instead. Players set their own status; a commish or admin can also set it for anyone from the event page's roster panel, which groups players by status and offers actions like Move in, Waitlist, Mark out, and Move out.
The four RSVP statuses
- In — the player is playing. While the event is open, RSVPing in also seats the player into an open tee-time slot automatically.
- Out — the player isn't playing.
- Waitlist — the player wanted in, but a round was full when they responded. They hold a place in line in case a spot opens.
- No response — the player hasn't answered yet. On a fresh event this is everyone.
How capacity works
Capacity is set per round by the tee times you create — each tee time is a group with a fixed number of seats, so the seats across a round's tee times are the field cap for that round. A player RSVPing in is forced to the waitlist if any round that has tee times is full. In a multi-round event this means a player can't be half-in: if they can't be accommodated in every round, they're waitlisted for the event. A round with no tee times imposes no cap.
Capacity gating and automatic seat assignment apply only while the event is in its RSVP phase (before it's locked). Adding more tee times to a full round is how you expand the field.
When the waitlist auto-promotes — and when it doesn't
Automatic promotion fires in exactly one situation: a player whose status was in changes to out while the event is still open for RSVPs. The first player on the waitlist is promoted to in and inherits the vacated tee-time slots across all rounds, and the promotion is recorded in the event's activity feed.
Promotion does not fire when:
- A waitlisted player is removed or marked out — that shortens the waitlist but frees no seat.
- The event is already locked — after lock, a drop-out frees their seat, but nobody is promoted automatically. If you want a waitlisted player in a locked event, move them in from the roster panel and seat them yourself.
- Extra tee times are added — new open seats don't pull anyone off the waitlist automatically; move waitlisted players in from the roster panel.
What changes when the event is locked
Locking the event (the Lock RSVPs button on the event page) closes the RSVP window and snapshots every in player's handicap index for scoring. From that point on, an RSVP change only updates the player's status — nothing is seated or unseated automatically, no capacity check runs, and no waitlist promotion fires. You manage the field manually: the roster panel controls who's in, and the round page controls who sits in which group (see Setting up tee times and pairings).
Events without RSVP
An event can be created with RSVP turned off entirely — chosen in the creation wizard's Players step and permanent once the event is published. On a no-RSVP event there are no statuses, no capacity gate, and no waitlist. Every active league member is enrolled automatically, including members who join the league later, and the organizer seats whoever shows up on the day. Being enrolled doesn't seat anyone: only players actually placed in a tee-time group count for scoring, games, and the leaderboard, so a bigger-than-expected turnout is a seating decision, not an error. On these events the lock button reads Lock the field and still snapshots handicaps.
Related articles
- Choosing the RSVP mode and pre-selecting players at creation: Creating an event
- Building tee times and seating the field: Setting up tee times and pairings