Skins

Quick answer. In skins the golfer with the lowest score on a hole wins that hole, which is called a skin. If two or more golfers tie the lowest score, you choose what happens: the skin carries over to the next hole and makes it worth more, or no skin is awarded. Golfers are ranked by how many skins they have. You choose the rules under Skins on Event settings.

Who can do this: an Admin or an Organizer sets the rules. Everyone with the link can read the board.

Before you start

Make the event with Skins as the format and pick the tees. Set up your event in four steps covers that. If you want net skins, set Handicap to something other than Scratch. Decide in advance what a tie does, because it changes how the day feels.

The steps

1. Open the Skins rules. On the event page, press Edit in the Event Details box to open Event settings. Find the box called Skins. It says "Every player competes for skins — lowest score on a hole wins."
2. Say what a tie does. Under When a hole ties, choose Carry over to the next hole or No skin that hole. Carry over is the usual choice and the one a new event starts with.
3. Say gross or net. Under Gross or net, choose Gross — raw score on the hole or Net — subtract handicap strokes. The line under it says "Gross uses each player's raw score on the hole — lowest score wins." or "Net uses each player's handicap strokes per hole — lowest net wins." Press Save Changes.
4. Score as usual. Golfers enter their strokes hole by hole, as in How scoring works on game day. Nobody enters skins. The board works them out.
5. Open the board. Press View Leaderboard. The Skins section opens with a line such as "4 players · 9 skins awarded · Gross · ties carry over". Under it is a list of golfers who have won skins, with the most first.
6. Read who won each hole. Under Who won each hole is a strip with one box for every hole. A box shows the golfer who won it. A hole that carried skins shows how many it was worth, such as ×2. A tied hole shows Tie, with a small arrow when the skin carries to the next hole. A hole nobody has played shows a dash. The key at the bottom reads "Won the skin" and "Tied / not decided".

What you should see

Here is the front nine from our practice event. Golfers are Rick Delgado, Bob Hendricks, Dave Prentiss and Susan Tillman, and the board is on Gross with Carry over.

• Hole 1. Dave has the lowest score and wins one skin.
• Hole 2. Rick and Dave tie, so the skin carries over.
• Hole 3. Dave has the lowest score again and wins this hole and the carried skin, so it is ×2.
• Holes 4 and 5. Hole 4 ties, so it carries. On hole 5 Rick has the lowest score and takes his own skin and the carried one, so it is ×2.
• Holes 6, 7 and 8. Each ties, and the skins pile up. On Hole 9 Susan wins with the lowest score and takes all four, so it shows ×4.

The board ends with Susan on 4 skins, Dave on 3 and Rick on 2, and says "9 skins awarded". All nine holes were won in the end, so no skins are left over.

A hole counts only once every golfer has a score on it, and the holes are settled in order. If one golfer's score on hole 2 is missing, hole 2 and every hole after it show a dash until it is entered, even if the others have scored them. The count in the summary line drops to match.

Change When a hole ties to No skin that hole and the same scorecards give Dave 2 skins, Rick 1 and Susan 1, with "4 skins awarded". Tied holes show Tie without an arrow and nothing is carried. Change Gross or net to Net with Carry over and the same scorecards give Rick 5 skins and Susan 4. Each change re-figures the board straight away.

If it goes wrong

• A hole shows Tie and the skin seems lost. When a hole ties is set to No skin that hole. Change it to Carry over to the next hole and press Save Changes.
• The winner on a hole is not who you expected. Check Gross or net. On Net, a golfer who gets a handicap stroke on that hole can beat a better raw score.
• Net is chosen and it looks like gross. The Handicap setting is Scratch. Choose Full (100%) or a percentage under Handicap.
• Holes show a dash. Some golfer has no score on that hole yet, or on an earlier one, because holes are settled in order. Open Enter Scores and look for an empty box. Once it is filled in the board catches up.
• The board says skins are still carried. Under Carry over, if the holes played so far have all tied, the board shows a line such as "4 skin(s) still carried — undecided." Those skins go to whoever wins the next hole. If the round is over and the last holes tied, nobody collects them. The summary line counts only skins that were won.
• You cannot change the format. The Format list is locked once scores are in. The page says "Locked — scores have been entered. Changing the format would re-score the leaderboard." The rules under Skins can still be changed.

Director's tip

Decide the tie rule before the first tee and say it out loud. Carry over makes the last few holes exciting. No skin is simpler to explain. Either is fine if everyone heard it.

Related

• How scoring works on game day
• Stroke play: gross and net
• Set up your event in four steps

Still stuck?

Email support@back9ops.com and tell us the event's name, the two Skins settings, and the hole where the board and your scorecard disagree.