The golf pool spreadsheet vs app question usually comes up around 8 p.m. on Sunday, when you're on the couch re-sorting columns while the leaders are on the 18th at Augusta. It's not really about software. It's about whether you want to watch the tournament or babysit a leaderboard.
When the sheet is fine
Six friends. One major. Bragging rights, maybe a $20 Venmo pot. Everyone trusts you. You're willing to type in scores a few times on Sunday. Plenty of Masters pools run this way every year and nobody complains. Don't fix what isn't broken.
When the sheet starts losing
The pain arrives predictably. Friday night, after the cut, when you have to apply missed-cut penalties across twenty lineups. The ESPN IMPORTHTML formula that worked last year and breaks this year. The text from someone who swears they submitted picks after watching Thursday's morning scores. The office pool that was six people two years ago and is twenty-two now.
If any of that sounds familiar, you've outgrown the spreadsheet.
The cost nobody counts
Manual pools feel free until you add up the hours. Collecting picks. Fixing typos. Answering "what's my score?" four times on Saturday. Updating the board while everyone else is watching the broadcast. That's the real price. Apps charge the organizer a hosting fee — on The Money List, players join free — in exchange for getting Sunday back.
What an app should and shouldn't do
A good app handles pick collection, lock enforcement, and live standings. It should not pretend to be your lawyer or your Venmo. Private buy-ins stay between you and your crew. The Money List tracks play-money Earnings on The Field for fun. It doesn't touch your office pot.
Switching without a speech
You don't need to announce a platform migration. Run one more event on the sheet if people are skeptical. Next major, spin up an app pool with the same format — six tiers, count four, same missed-cut penalty. Send one link. People switch when they check standings on their phone without texting you.
Some commissioners keep a sheet for who paid whom and run the actual pool in an app. One spreadsheet, not twelve.
Small group, one-off major: sheet plus PGA.com works. Recurring pool, ten-plus players, or any commissioner who wants to watch golf on Sunday: use a live board.
Create a friends pool when you're ready. Keep the sheet as backup if it helps you sleep.
Ready to run your pool? Same tiered format, no Sunday refresh duty — create a friends pool on The Money List when you've outgrown the sheet.
Create a friends pool