Skins game rules
Skins is a per-hole game. Each hole has a fixed value (the "skin"), and the lowest single score on the hole wins it. If two or more players tie for the lowest score, no one wins — the skin carries over to the next hole, doubling or stacking the pot.
The format pays the player who plays best on a single hole. Steady par-grinders rarely win skins. The volatile player who shoots 80 with three blow-up holes and one eagle often does.
The basics
Three or four players, played gross or net. Before the round, the group agrees on a per-hole stake — often £1 a skin, sometimes £5, sometimes a fixed pot divided across 18 holes.
For each hole:
- Every player plays their ball, gross stroke play (no holes-in-hand).
- The single lowest score wins the skin.
- If two or more players tie for low, no one wins. The skin carries over to the next hole and adds to its value.
- Carryovers stack indefinitely. Five tied holes followed by an outright winner pays out six skins.
The most extreme version of the carryover effect: 17 tied holes followed by one winner on the 18th pays the full pot to one player.
Net skins
Strokes count. Apply the WHS allowance for the format your group runs (typically 100% — most clubs treat skins like match play, since each hole is independent). Each player's net score on a hole is gross minus the handicap stroke they receive there based on stroke index.
A 12-handicap with a stroke on a par-4 SI 5 making a 5 has a net 4. A scratch player makes a 4 with no stroke. They tie — the skin carries over.
Net skins tends to even the day out across mixed-handicap groups. Pure gross skins favours the lowest-handicap player heavily, especially if the group has wide handicap spread.
Variants
Carryover-only at the end. Some groups don't pay out skins as they happen; instead, every win counts equally at the round's end and all carryovers go to whoever wins the final eligible skin. Simpler to score but rewards last-hole performance disproportionately.
Validation rule (skin must be defended). In some variants, the player who wins a skin must repeat the same gross score on the next hole, or the skin is voided. Used in friendly matchplay and casual rounds to extend drama.
No-carry skins. Tied holes pay no one, but the skin doesn't roll over. Each hole stands alone. Less common but cleaner.
Mexican skins (sometimes called Las Vegas skins). Each player puts in a flat amount per hole; lowest score wins the whole pot; ties split. No carryovers. Variant rules differ widely.
Common questions
What if everyone makes par? All tied, no winner, skin carries over.
What if three players make 4 and one player makes 5? The three are tied for lowest. Skin carries over. The lone player who made 5 just loses that hole.
What's the most a single skin can be worth? In theory, all 18 skins stacked on the 18th hole if every other hole ties. In practice, 4-6 stacked skins is a big day.
Can you press in skins? No. Skins is per-hole, no rolling matches to press.
Pace of play
Skins can slow play because every player putts everything out — there are no concessions. Some groups speed it up by treating a tap-in (inside the leather) as good, or by requiring "go-or-no-go" decisions at certain distances. Agree before the first tee.
Where skins came from
The format predates serious documentation. The name comes from earlier card games (pelts as stakes in 19th-century gambling). The first widely televised PGA event using the format was The Skins Game, run as an unofficial Thanksgiving-weekend exhibition from 1983 to 2008. Four players, big pot, made-for-TV drama. The format on tour died but lives on at every club's Saturday roll-up.
Handicap
Most clubs play skins with 100% Course Handicap allowance, treating it as a match-play-style format. Some apply a 95% allowance if running it more formally. The playing handicap calculator covers both. Strokes apply per-hole by stroke index.
Try it
Calculate your Course Handicap at the destination course with the course handicap calculator before the round, then apply strokes hole by hole from the scorecard.
Sources
- USGA Rules of Handicapping 2024 — for allowance guidance on match-play-style formats.
- Standard club practice for net skins variants.