Keep your phone in your bag.
Mark your scorecard in pencil. Take one photo after the round. See your fairways, green misses, putts and penalties.
Pencil on the course. Answers after.
Only the first step happens during the round. The pictures below are the real app, using its demo golfer.
Mark the card
Score, a check or an arrow for the fairway and green, and your putts, in the spare rows of the course’s own card.
Scan it
One photo after the round. Check what it read, fix any box with a tap, and save.
See the pattern
Where your tee shots and approaches go, how your putts break down, and how far you are from your scoring goal.
Practice one thing
One skill, one short drill, and a number to hit before your next round.
You’re on the list.
I’ll email you about beta selection before the planned March 2027 start. Joining the list doesn’t guarantee a testing place. In the meantime, try the sample card below.
Swipe to see all nine holes →
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| Score | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 41 |
| Fairway | ✓ | ← | – | ✓ | → | – | FB | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Green | ✓ | ↓ | ✓ | ✓ | GB | ✓ | ↓ | ✓ | ← | |
| Putts | 2M | 2L | 2M | 1S | 2M | 3L | 2L | 2M | 2S | 18 |
| Pen | 1 | 1 |
After one photo
- Fairways
- 4 of 7
- Greens
- 5 of 9
- Putts
- 18
- Penalty strokes
- 1
Two of your four missed greens came up short. Your only three-putt started from lag range, and the card records a missed short putt.
Stats are only useful if they change what you do.
Pencil & Pin turns your card into a short list of what to work on, in plain language. A few findings it can give you after a handful of rounds:
- 7 of your 10 missed greens were short. Check club selection and carry distances before your next round.
- Most of your three-putts start from lag range. Start with distance-control practice from over 7 paces. The marks show the starting distance, not the cause of each miss.
- You recorded 2 penalty strokes a round. Review those holes and plan a safer target. The marks alone cannot identify which shot caused a penalty.
- You got up and down 2 times in 10. Spend your next range session around the green. Turning those misses into pars is where your strokes are.
Examples of the kind of findings Pencil & Pin gives, not one golfer’s real results. The putt-distance finding needs the optional extra marks.
Chasing 100? 90? 80?
Tell Pencil & Pin the score you want to break. It shows how many strokes a round stand in the way, where they’re coming from, and which ones are easiest to get back.
When you finally get under it, that round gets stamped, and the share image is ready to send to the group.
strokes a round to go
Try it: mark a nine and watch the stats change.
Tap any box to change the mark. On the course you’d write these in pencil on the course’s card; after one photo, this is what you get.
Swipe to see all nine holes →
Fairway: a check for a hit, or an arrow for the miss. Green: the same. Putts: the number. FB and GB mark a fairway or greenside bunker. S, M or L is how far the first putt was.
Your stats from this card
- Fairways
- –
- Greens
- –
- Putts
- –
- Three-putts
- –
The beta and founding offer
Pencil & Pin is built and tested by one golfer in Indiana. A small first group means every tester gets a real answer when something doesn’t work, and I can test card reading across different courses and handwriting before opening it to more golfers.
- 100
- founding spots. Each one keeps a $19.99 yearly price for as long as the membership stays active.
- 30
- beta testers planned for March–April 2027, chosen from the list and free through the 2027 season.
- $0
- to join the list. No card needed, and you can leave anytime.
Joining the list is free. Beta selection is separate from founding pricing. The founding offer is planned for the first 100 signups, with eligibility confirmed separately by email.
Questions
Do I need my phone during the round?
No. Use a pencil and the course’s scorecard while you play. Your phone can stay in your bag or cart until you photograph the card after the round. There’s no GPS, watch or shot-by-shot phone tracking required.
Do I need to buy anything or wear anything?
No. A pencil and the scorecard the course hands you. There are no sensors, tags or watches.
Do I have to mark every stat?
No. The basics are score, fairway, green and putts. Bunkers and putt distance are optional extras for golfers who want deeper stats, and you can skip any box on any hole.
Will it read my handwriting?
It reads checks, arrows, numbers and a handful of letters, not sentences, and it shows you what it read before anything is saved. If it misreads a box, you fix it with one tap.
Which courses work?
Any course that hands out a paper scorecard. Most cards have enough spare rows for the full set of stats. If a card only has two or three, a shorter set of marks still works, and you can always type a round in by hand.
What does it cost after launch?
There will be a free version with a limited number of scanned rounds. Pro is planned at $29.99 a year; founding members pay $19.99 a year.
What happens to my email?
It’s used only for Pencil & Pin updates. It isn’t sold or shared.