Terms for the Ribbon Golf alpha

Who can use it

Ribbon Golf is a free, invite-only alpha for iPhone and Apple Watch. It is operated personally by its founder, Justin Paterno. In these terms, “Ribbon,” “we,” and “us” mean him.

You may use the alpha only if you are 18 or older and live in the United States. When you continue past sign-in, you confirm both.

This is test software. Features may change, break, or go away. We may end the alpha, or your access to it, at any time.

What continuing past sign-in agrees to

You agree to these terms and to our privacy policy. Together they cover the following.

Your rounds are uploaded to Ribbon

Sharing rounds is part of the alpha. Uploads are on from the start. We upload what the alpha collects to our server to run the app and to improve automatic tracking for you and other golfers:

• Round events: scores, shots, clubs, corrections, and precise GPS locations.
• Apple Watch motion, sent hole by hole when connected.
• Diagnostic logs from the app during a round.
• Crash reports, including app and device details.
• Your bag, distances, preferences, profile, and saved memories.

The founder can review this data to improve tracking, provide Talk, and fix problems. The privacy policy lists every service involved and how long each kind of data stays.

Talk goes to our AI providers

Talk is optional. When you use it, your words, voice, and relevant golf context go to Anthropic and OpenAI to understand you and answer. ElevenLabs receives the caddie’s reply as text to speak it aloud. We keep Talk transcripts. Voice audio is not kept after processing. Tester rounds are not recorded by microphone.

You can pause uploads

Turn off Upload my rounds in Settings → You → Account. Uploads stop at once. Your rounds wait on your phone and are sent if you turn it back on. Talk still sends what you say whenever you use it.

You can leave and delete your data

If you signed in, open Settings → You → Delete account. You are signed out at once. If you never signed in, choose Leave the alpha and delete my data in Settings → You → Account. Either way, this phone and your Watch are cleared and your server data is erased within 30 days.

You can also email support@ribbongolf.com, including if you cannot open the app. Signing out or uninstalling the app does not delete your data.

The caddie’s advice is a suggestion

Ribbon suggests clubs, targets, and plays, and estimates distances. These are suggestions. They can be wrong. You make your own calls on every shot.

Ribbon does not make rules decisions. It never decides a drop, a penalty, or whether a ball is out of bounds. Those calls are yours.

The alpha can miss shots, count extra shots, or choose the wrong club. Check your card after a round and correct what you remember. Your score is your responsibility.

Ribbon never posts a score to GHIN for you. If you link GHIN, a score is posted only when you tap Post. Confirming a card does not post it.

Watch where you are. Keep an eye out for other golfers, balls in the air, and carts, and do not use the app in a way that distracts you from playing safely.

Your account and acceptable use

You can sign in with Apple. Some builds also let you continue on this phone without signing in. Either way, your rounds are linked to your account or your installation. Keep your phone and Apple account secure; what happens under them is your responsibility.

When you use the alpha, please do not:

• Share your invite or give someone else access to your account.
• Copy, reverse engineer, or resell the app or its parts.
• Interfere with the app, its servers, or other golfers’ data.
• Upload rounds or data that are not yours, or that you know are false.
• Use Talk to harass anyone or to produce unlawful content.
• Break the law or the rules of the course you are playing.

If you do, we may suspend or end your access.

What belongs to whom

Ribbon Golf, its app, its name, its marks, and its designs belong to us. These terms give you a personal, revocable right to use the alpha while you are in it. Nothing else transfers to you.

Your rounds remain yours. You let us use them as these terms and the privacy policy describe: to run the app and to improve tracking. Shared settings learned across many golfers stay after you leave, as the privacy policy explains.

If you send feedback, ideas, or bug reports, we may use them freely, without owing you anything.

Apple’s terms for TestFlight and Sign in with Apple also apply to your use of those services.

No warranty

The alpha is provided “as is” and “as available,” free of charge. We make no promises that it will be accurate, available, secure, or error-free, or that it will suit any purpose. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied.

Limits on liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost data, scores, or handicap changes, that arise from your use of the alpha. Our total liability for any claim about the alpha is limited to one hundred US dollars ($100).

Some states do not allow some of these limits. Where they do not, the limits apply only as far as the law allows.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute about them will be heard in the state or federal courts located in North Carolina.

If part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies. If we do not enforce a term right away, we have not given it up.

Changes to these terms, and contact

We may update these terms as the alpha changes. We will post the new version here with a new effective date. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email to the address on your account, at least 14 days before it applies. If you keep using the alpha after a change applies, you accept the new terms. If you do not, you can leave at any time.

For questions about these terms, email support@ribbongolf.com.