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Game Format

Skins Golf Game

Skins is one of the most exciting and easy-to-understand golf formats. Each hole is worth one “skin,” and the player (or team) with the lowest score on the hole wins it. If two or more players tie, the skin carries over to the next hole, building up the stakes as the round goes on. Whether you’re playing a casual weekend round or a high-profile skins match, this format keeps every hole interesting from start to finish.

At a Glance

Type
Individual or Team
Players
2 or more (individual); 2 or more teams of any size (team)
Scoring
Stroke play or Stableford (subscoring)
Handicaps
On by default (net skins); can be set to gross
Wins
Most skins collected

The Rules
  1. Each hole is worth one skin.
  2. Every player plays the hole using their own ball (standard stroke play or Stableford scoring).
  3. The player with the lowest score on the hole wins the skin for that hole.
  4. If two or more players tie for the lowest score, no one wins the skin. It carries over and is added to the next hole’s skin (see Carryover Explained).
  5. The player with the most skins at the end of the round wins.
Net vs. Gross: By default, Squabbit plays net skins, meaning handicap strokes are applied to each hole. This lets players of different abilities compete fairly. You can switch to gross skins if everyone prefers to play without handicaps.

Carryover Explained

Carryover is what makes skins golf so dramatic. When no one wins a hole outright (because two or more players tied), the skin for that hole is not awarded. Instead, it carries over and is added to the next hole’s pot.

This means the next hole is now worth 2 skins — 1 for the current hole plus the 1 that carried over. If that hole also ties, 3 skins carry to the next hole, and so on. The first player to win a hole outright collects all the accumulated skins.

Carryover skins are enabled by default in Squabbit. If you turn carryover off, tied holes simply award no skin and each hole is always worth exactly 1.

End of round: If skins are still unclaimed after the final hole, they remain unawarded. There is no sudden-death playoff — those skins simply go uncollected.

Example Round

Three players — Alice, Bob, and Carol — are playing a skins game with carryover enabled:

Hole 1 — Par 4
Alice: 4   Bob: 5   Carol: 4
Alice and Carol tie. No skin awarded — 1 skin carries over.
Hole 2 — Par 3 (worth 2 skins)
Alice: 3   Bob: 3   Carol: 4
Alice and Bob tie again. No skin awarded — 2 skins carry over.
Hole 3 — Par 5 (worth 3 skins)
Alice: 5   Bob: 4   Carol: 5
Bob wins the hole outright with a 4.
Bob collects 3 skins (1 for Hole 3 + 2 carried over from Holes 1 and 2)

Skins Settings

Squabbit offers several settings to customize your skins game:

Setting Description
Carryover skins When a hole is tied, the skin carries to the next hole. On by default
Require par or better A player must score par or better to win a skin, even if they have the lowest score on the hole.
Require birdie or better A player must score birdie or better to win a skin.
Natural birdies When two players tie, a player who made a natural (gross) birdie beats a player who made a net birdie using handicap strokes.
Gross beats net When two players tie, the player with the better gross score wins the tiebreaker.
Multiple hole winners If two or more players tie for the lowest score, they all win the skin instead of it carrying over.
Validate skins A skin winner must score par or better on the following hole to confirm the skin. If they fail, the skin carries over instead.

Team Skins

Team Skins works exactly like individual skins, except teams compete for each hole instead of individual players. Each team produces a single hole score using a team format (Best Ball by default), and the team with the lowest score wins the skin.

Teams can be any size (1–200 players), with 4 being the default. The same carryover rules apply — if two or more teams tie, the skin carries to the next hole.

Team Scoring Formats

You can choose how teams determine their hole score. The available team formats include:

  • Best Ball (default) — the team’s score is the lowest individual score on the hole
  • Alternate Shot — teammates alternate hitting the same ball
  • Ambrose (Scramble with handicaps) — everyone hits, pick the best, repeat
  • Scramble — same as Ambrose but without handicaps
  • Shamble — pick the best drive, then play your own ball
  • And more — including Worst Ball, Scotch, and other team formats
Tip: Team Skins with Best Ball is one of the most popular combinations. It rewards teams that have at least one player who can post a great score on any given hole.

Setting Up in Squabbit

Individual Skins

  1. Create a new game or tournament.
  2. Under format, choose Skins.
  3. Choose your subscoring type — Stroke Play (default) or Stableford.
  4. Handicaps are on by default (net skins). Toggle off for gross skins.
  5. Adjust optional settings like carryover, require par or better, and validate skins.
  6. Add your players and start the round.

Team Skins

  1. Create a new game or tournament.
  2. Under format, choose Team Skins.
  3. Choose the team scoring format (Best Ball is the default).
  4. Set your team size and adjust skins settings as needed.
  5. Add players, assign them to teams, and start the round.

During the round, each player enters their own score as normal. Squabbit automatically calculates who wins each skin, tracks carryovers, and keeps a running total of skins won.

Note: Skins won on each hole are displayed as a secondary score on the scorecard, so everyone can see exactly where skins were earned and how many carried over.