How do skins payouts work?
Each hole is worth one skin, and the pot divides across all 18 — so with four players at $20 each, the $80 pot pays roughly $4.44 per skin. Win a hole outright and that skin's share is yours; tie and nobody wins it.
What does carryover mean in skins?
With carryover on, a tied hole's skin rolls forward, so the next hole is worth two skins, then three, and so on until somebody wins a hole outright. Late in a round with several carried skins, a single clean par can swing half the pot.
Do you play skins with handicaps?
Both ways are common. Net skins applies each player's course handicap using standard stroke allocation (a stroke on the holes where you get one), which keeps mixed-ability groups honest. Gross skins is a straight low-score contest better suited to similar handicaps.
What is a validation rule in skins?
A validation requirement says a skin only counts if the score clears a bar — for example birdie-to-validate, or requiring the winner to also beat par. It stops routine pars from collecting skins on holes where everyone else blew up.
What happens to skins nobody wins?
Without carryover, a tied hole's value simply stays in the pot and every won skin is worth proportionally more (the pot divides by skins actually won). With carryover, unwon value rolls forward instead — and a round can end with the final skins never being claimed, in which case those shares return to the players.