How to play Skins in golf
In Skins every hole is a prize. Win a hole outright and you win its skin. Tie for the lowest score and nobody wins it: the skin carries over and the next hole is worth more. Every hole matters, right to the end.
- Players
- 2 or more (best with 3 or 4)
- Scoring
- Skins won
- Best for
- Groups who like a bit of tension on every hole
Winning a skin
The lowest net score on a hole, on its own, wins the skin. If two or more players share the lowest score, nobody wins it.
Carry-overs
An unwon skin carries over, so the next hole is worth two. Keep tying and they keep building: win the hole after three ties in a row and you take four skins.
An example
Net scores on hole 1: Ann 4, Ben 4, Cat 5. Ann and Ben tie, so the skin carries over. Hole 2: Ann 5, Ben 4, Cat 5. Ben wins it on his own and takes two skins.
Handicaps
Skins uses full handicaps: everyone gets their strokes on the hardest holes and the lowest net score wins. Higher handicaps have a real chance on the tough holes.
Men and women on cards with different pars? Whoever’s on the higher-par card gets the difference as extra strokes (the World Handicap System rule), and LiveBirdies does it for you once the pars are in.
Skins left after 18
If the 18th is tied, any skins still carried over have no winner. Some groups play extra holes, some split them and some leave them. Agree before you tee off. In LiveBirdies they’re left unwon (so nobody pays for them), or the host can choose to share them between the players tied for lowest on the last hole.
Playing for money
Plenty of groups put a value on each skin, say $2. A common way to settle up is as a pot: add up what all the skins won are worth, everyone puts in an equal share, and whoever won more than their share is paid the difference. With $5 skins and 18 won between three players, the pot is $90 and everyone puts in $30: win 10 skins ($50) and you’re up $20. LiveBirdies works this out and shows who pays who at the end, but it never handles money.
Optional: 2v2 team skins
A four-ball can play skins as two pairs. On each hole, each pair’s better net score counts, and the lower one wins the skin for the pair. A tie carries over, just like individual skins.
With money on it, the pair with fewer skins pays the difference, split between the two of them. Example at $5 a skin: Mike & Sam win 3 skins to 0, so Ben & Tom owe $15, $7.50 each. In LiveBirdies, tick “Play as 2v2 teams” when you set up Skins with four players and pick the pairs.
Scoring Skins with LiveBirdies
Enter scores as you go. LiveBirdies settles each hole in order, shows what the next hole is worth and keeps a running total of skins (and dollars) for everyone. Can’t win the hole? Record a pick-up and the others play on. Someone has to leave? The host taps “Someone left?” on the Standings tab, and their holes without a score count as pick-ups so the game carries on.