How to Play Skins in Golf
Win a hole outright and the skin is yours. Tie it, and the pot just keeps growing.
What is Skins?
Skins turns every hole into its own bet worth one "skin." Whoever posts the sole lowest score on a hole wins it outright, at your set stakes.
If two or more players tie for the low score, nobody wins that hole — the skin carries over and stacks onto the next one, so the pot keeps growing until somebody finally wins a hole alone.
How scoring works
- Every hole is worth one skin, at your set stakes.
- The sole lowest score on a hole wins whatever skins it's carrying.
- A tie for low score carries the skin(s) forward — the next hole is worth more.
- Payouts stack: winning a hole that carried 3 skins pays 3x the base stake, from every other player.
Scoring example
Four players, $2 a skin.
| Hole | Low score | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam — 4 | Sam wins 1 skin |
| 2 | Alex & Jess tie — 5 | Carries (2 skins now up for grabs) |
| 3 | Marcus — 4 | Marcus wins both skins |
Sam collects 1 skin — $2 from each of the other 3 players, $6 total. Marcus collects the 2 skins that carried — $4 from each other player, $12 total. Alex and Jess's tied hole cost them nothing extra; it just handed Marcus a bigger pot.
See it in the app — pick from all 12 games, set your stakes, and Buddies scores it live.
Ready to play?
Download Buddies and let the app track every bet, hole by hole.
Download on the App StoreBuddies Bet Tracker is a scorekeeping and tally app. It does not process payments, hold money, or facilitate gambling. All settlements happen between players outside the app.