The rules
- Every hole is worth one skin. Agree on what a skin is worth before you tee off: points, a dollar, the bill.
- The player with the lowest score on a hole, on their own, wins its skin.
- If two or more players tie for the lowest score, nobody wins the hole. Its skin carries over, so the next hole is worth two.
- Carryovers keep building until someone wins a hole outright and takes every skin riding on it.
- Most skins at the end wins. Any skins still carrying after the last hole go unclaimed.
A worked example
| Hole | Ann | Ben | Cal | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | Ann wins 1 skin |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | Push: 1 skin carries |
| 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Push: 2 skins carry |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Cal wins 3 skins |
After four holes Cal has 3 skins and Ann has 1, even though Ann has the lowest total score. That's the point of skins: one great hole at the right moment beats steady golf.
Common variations
- No carryovers: a tied hole's skin is simply dropped. Lower stakes, fewer big swings.
- Validation: to keep carried skins, the winner must match or beat their score on the next hole. Popular in big money games, rarely used among friends.
- Net skins: handicap strokes are taken on the hardest holes, so a higher handicapper can win a skin with a net birdie. See how handicap strokes work.
- Team skins: pairs play best ball, and the team's best score on each hole counts.
Free Skins scorekeeper
Type each player's score as you go. The card works out every hole and the standing, and it stays in this browser if you lose signal or close the tab.
No holes decided yet.
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| Skins | 0 | 0 |
Scores stay in this browser only. Gross scores, one player per side: for teams, handicap strokes and live scores on everyone's phone, play the game in Greens.
Updated November 12, 2026 by the Greens team.