Skins in golf: rules, the pot and how it is worked out

What is skins?

Skins is the most immediate wager in golf. Instead of adding up the whole round, you settle hole by hole. Every hole has its own pot, and whoever plays it best takes that pot. It keeps the tension alive right into the 18th, because a single good hole can turn the whole round around.

How to play skins

Everyone puts in the same stake per hole. The stake times the number of players is the pot on that hole.
The lowest score on the hole wins the pot, but only if it is outright.
If two or more players share the lowest score, nobody wins. The pot carries to the next hole.
Holes you did not play do not count. If you cut the round short it is settled on the holes you actually played.

How the pot is worked out

The pot on a hole is the stake times the number of players, plus any carry from earlier tied holes. With four players staking 20 a hole, the base pot is 80. If holes 1 and 2 are tied and hole 3 is won outright, the winner of hole 3 takes the whole 240.

Any carry still standing after the final hole is split evenly between all players. No pot is ever lost.

With or without handicap

Skins works just as well in an even group as in a mixed one. With handicap, net scores are compared — gross minus the strokes you receive on that hole according to slope, course rating and stroke index. An 18-handicapper and a scratch player can then meet on the same hole without one of them being beaten before they start.

Wager Golf works out the net score per hole automatically with proper WHS handicaps, keeps track of the carry between holes and shows the pot live while you play.

Common questions

How many players do you need for skins?

Skins works from 2 players upwards. The more of you there are, the bigger the pot per hole, and the harder it is to win a hole outright.

What happens when a hole is tied?

Nobody wins the hole. The pot carries to the next hole and is added on top of that pot. It means a later outright winner can take several holes' stakes in one go.

Is skins played with or without handicap?

Either works. With handicap, net scores are compared per hole, so players of different standards can meet fairly. Without handicap the lowest gross score wins.

What happens to the pot if the last holes are tied?

Any carry left after the final hole is split evenly between all players. The money is not lost — it goes back to the players.

Stop working out Skins by hand

Wager Golf works out the game and settlement automatically with the right WHS handicap, then shows exactly who owes whom.

Skins in golf