The short version
Each hole is worth one skin. The player with the lowest score on the hole, alone, wins it. If two or more players tie for low score, nobody wins and the skin carries over, so the next hole is worth two. Carryovers keep building until someone wins a hole outright.
Gross or net
Gross skins use actual scores. Net skins subtract a stroke on the holes where a player gets one (the hardest holes by stroke index, up to their strokes). Net skins let a mixed group play together; gross skins favor the low handicaps. Many groups use 100% of course handicap for net skins.
Paying out
Two common ways:
- Per skin: each skin is worth a set amount from every other player. With four players at $5 a skin, each skin you win pays $15. This is how ForeLeft! settles skins.
- Pot: everyone puts in the same amount and the pot is divided by the number of skins won.
House rules to agree on
- Validation: some groups require the winner to at least halve the next hole to keep a skin.
- Last hole carryovers: play them off, split them, or let them lapse.
- Unfinished holes: a player who picks up can't win the skin.
Run your numbers in the skins calculator.
Last updated October 19, 2026. House rules vary; agree on yours on the first tee.
