Match Skins vs. Field Skins: A Golf Trip Guide
Match Skins keeps the side game inside your matchup. Field Skins brings the entire field into the same game. A birdie can win your Match Skins contest and still lose across the field to someone two tee times behind you.
That's what makes Field Skins a fun addition to a buddies trip: you've got a reason to follow the other groups, even when you're out of contention in your main match. One great hole can still give you something to talk about at dinner.
Here's a straightforward way to play each game, with an example of how the money works.
Match Skins: a little more riding on every hole
In skins, winning a hole outright earns a skin. For the familiar carryover version within your match:
- Each hole starts with one skin at stake.
- The outright lowest score wins it.
- A tie for the lowest score carries the skin to the next hole.
Imagine Chris and Mike both make par on the first hole, with everyone else making bogey. Nobody wins, so the second hole is worth two skins. If Dan wins that hole outright, he takes both. If the low score ties again, the third hole is worth three.
You don't need a birdie to win this version. A par, or even a bogey, can take the skin if it beats everyone else. A few carryovers can make an otherwise ordinary approach shot feel a lot more interesting.
Agree on the stakes and what happens to any unclaimed skins at the end before you tee off. Keep the amount comfortable enough that everyone enjoys the game.
Field Skins: your birdie has to survive the whole field
Field Skins compares everyone's score on the same hole of the same course that round. With 16 players spread across four foursomes, all 16 are competing for each skin.
Different groups use different skins rules. The version built into Dormie requires birdie or better, with no carryovers. Here's how that game works:
- Everyone contributes the agreed buy-in to one pot.
- A skin goes to the outright lowest score on a hole, provided it is birdie or better.
- If the lowest score is tied, nobody wins that skin.
- If nobody makes birdie or better, nobody wins that skin either.
- Unwon skins do not carry over. The pot is divided among the skins that are won.
For a gross-score example, say Chris birdies the par-4 seventh and everyone else makes par or worse. Chris wins a skin. If Mike also birdies it, neither wins. But if Dan makes an eagle, Dan wins the skin over both birdies. Two eagles would tie and cancel the skin.
That birdie isn't safe just because your foursome has finished. Someone in the last group may still tie it or beat it. Treat the leaderboard and payout amounts as provisional until every group's scores are in.
How to split the pot
Here's a hypothetical round with 16 players putting in $20 each, for a $320 pot. Ten skins are won across the field, making each skin worth $32.
| Player | Skins won | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Chris | 5 | $160 |
| Mike | 2 | $64 |
| Dan | 2 | $64 |
| Alex | 1 | $32 |
Those payouts add up to the full $320. They're amounts received from the pot, before subtracting each player's $20 buy-in. Alex's one skin returns the buy-in plus $12; everyone without a skin receives no payout.
If nobody wins a skin, there is no winning skin to divide the pot by. Decide beforehand whether everyone gets their buy-in back or the pot rolls into the next round. That's an agreement among your friends, not an automatic payout rule in the app.
Gross or net? Decide before the first tee
Gross skins uses the strokes you actually take. Net skins accounts for handicap strokes, giving golfers of different abilities another way to compete. In a net birdie-or-better game, a gross par can become a qualifying net birdie on a hole where that player receives a stroke.
Choose the version that suits your group and make sure everyone understands it. Dormie supports net skins when tournament handicaps are enabled. The birdie-or-better requirement and no-carryover rule still apply to its Field Skins game.
Which one should you play on your trip?
Choose Match Skins if you want a simple side game with the friends beside you. Choose Field Skins if you want every foursome involved in one pot. Play both if your group enjoys a little extra action and is happy with the combined stakes.
Either can sit alongside a Ryder Cup weekend. You can lose your match for Team USA and still head to the clubhouse with a winning skin in Field Skins.
Keep the competition going, without collecting four scorecards
Dormie tracks Match Skins, Field Skins, and their payout amounts as scores come in. Your friends can follow the other groups instead of waiting for someone to gather every card and do the math after the round.
It's an iPhone app for tournaments with up to 24 players and 6 rounds. Build and preview your tournament before activating it; a Tournament Pass is $19.99 for one event, and joining players participate free.
Download on the App Store, plan the weekend, and give everyone's next birdie a little more to play for.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Match Skins and Field Skins?
Match Skins compares scores within your match. Field Skins compares scores across the whole field for that round. Carryovers, handicaps, and a minimum winning score are separate rules your group should agree on.
Does a birdie always win a skin in Field Skins?
No. In the birdie-or-better game described here, a birdie wins only if it is the outright lowest score on that hole across the field. Another birdie ties it; an eagle beats it. A tie for the lowest score awards no skin and does not carry over.
How do you calculate Field Skins payouts?
Divide the total pot by the number of skins won, then multiply that value by each player's skins. A $320 pot with 10 winning skins pays $32 per skin. Wait until every group's scores are in before settling up. If nobody wins a skin, use the refund or rollover rule agreed before the round.