Skins carryovers and final ties: agree before you play
A tied hole can make the next hole worth more. Write down the carryover and final-tie rule before anyone enters a score.
GolfDock editorial · Reviewed
What a carryover changes
In a skins game, a player wins a hole only by having the unique lowest score under the group’s agreed scoring method. With carryovers, an unawarded skin joins the next hole’s skin. Without carryovers, the tied hole stays unawarded. Neither approach requires money: skins can simply be points. Record the choice alongside the player list so someone reviewing the results can reproduce the calculation.
A four-hole example
Suppose Alex and Sam tie hole 1 with fours and hole 2 with fives. Hole 3 is now worth three skins. Alex makes 3 and Sam makes 4, so Alex takes all three. On hole 4 they both make 4, leaving one skin unresolved. The score is Alex 3, Sam 0, with one unawarded skin. Reporting Alex as winning four would quietly change the final-hole rule.
Choose the last-hole outcome
Your group can leave the final pot unawarded or agree a separate playoff or split before the round. Those are different house rules with different results. A playoff also needs agreement on who takes part and how it ends. The GolfDock calculator leaves the final tied pot unawarded; it does not invent a playoff winner or automatically divide the pot.
Missing scores can change everything after them
Do not replace a missing score with par to get an answer. If hole 2 is incomplete, its result can change the value awarded on hole 3. Reconcile the missing score, then recalculate forward. The calculator stops awards at the first incomplete hole. A useful review note is: “Through hole 5 verified; hole 6 awaiting Sam; later results provisional.”
Reconcile before sharing
Check the players, gross or net selection, carryover setting and every hole entered. For the example above, won skins plus unawarded skins equal four played holes. That count is a useful arithmetic check, but it does not prove that the underlying scores are correct. Ask each golfer to confirm their card before using the result in standings or a group message.