Ghost Players

What to do when not everyone in your foursome has FOREPAID — or doesn’t have a phone with them today.

On this page

What is a ghost player?
When to use one
Adding a ghost player
During the round
After the round — the invite
Claiming a ghost profile
First round free for ghost invitees

What is a ghost player?

A ghost player is someone in your foursome who doesn’t have a FOREPAID account — or has one but isn’t actively on the round (phone dead, left at the clubhouse, riding in a cart with someone else). You enter their scores from your phone; they participate in every wager exactly as if they were on the round themselves.

When to use one

A buddy in your foursome doesn’t use FOREPAID yet
Someone’s phone died on hole 6 and you want to keep them in the wagers
You’re playing with a guest at the club who doesn’t have the app
Sharing a cart and one phone is doing all the scoring for both players

Adding a ghost player

FOREPAID add-a-new-player form — name, handicap, optional phone and email, with an Add Player button

Just a name gets them in. Phone sends the invite; email unlocks the recap later.

On the Pick Players screen during round setup, tap Add Player.
Choose Add as Ghost (no app account needed).
Enter their full name and handicap.
Optionally enter their email or phone — if you do, we’ll send them a post-round recap and an invite to claim their stats.
Done. They appear in the foursome alongside the real-account players.

FOREPAID SMS invite — a text inviting the player to a round at Hiawatha with a join link and code

If you add a phone number, they get a text with a join link — no account needed to be scored.

During the round

Ghost players show up on every screen exactly like real-account players: Score Entry has their card, Russ calls their name on chirps, Standings tracks their money, Skins counts their birdies.

The only difference: their scores are entered from someone else’s phone (typically the host’s). The audit trail records who entered each score.

After the round — the invite

If you entered an email or phone for the ghost player, they get a personalized post-round message from Russ within minutes of the round closing:

Their score, their round results, the names of the people they played with
A Russ-voiced recap of how their round went
The live web scorecard at forepaid.app/r/<id>
A one-tap link to claim their FOREPAID profile and download the app

Claiming a ghost profile

When a ghost-player invitee taps the claim link in their email, the iOS app opens (or installs first). They enter their email to sign in — their ghost profile, including the round they just played, gets attached to their new account.

Past rounds played as a ghost are visible in their History as soon as they claim. Friends they played with show up in their friends list.

First round free for ghost invitees

The big perk: when a ghost-player invitee claims their profile and starts their first round of their own, that round is free — no subscription required. Same Russ, same GPS, same wagers, same settle. After that round, the paywall appears at the next round’s final recap.

This is the “Invite your foursome — their first round is on us” mechanic you see on the homepage. The goal: let your friends experience FOREPAID for real before they decide whether to subscribe.

For details on pricing, see Subscription & Account. For the subscriber-only Refer-a-Friend bonus (you both get a free month when they subscribe), see Refer-a-Friend.