Golf League Side Games (Skins, CTP, Long Drive and More)
Updated
Common golf league side games are skins, closest to the pin, long drive, low net of the week and a weekly pot. Keep buy-ins small, make every game optional, and write the rules down so the money part stays fun.
Updated October 2026.
This guide runs one invented league through every game: a full week of net skins, a month of closest to the pin, and a season pot at two sizes. Every number is computed, so you can copy the tables and swap in your own.
The sample league: Thursday Nine
Thursday Nine, an invented example league, plays nine holes at a municipal course (par 36) for 16 weeks. It has 24 golfers and two volunteers, a commissioner and a treasurer. It runs three money games, all optional, all paid for before the first tee.
| Game | Buy-in | Who plays | Paid how |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net skins, carryover on | $5 a week | Golfers who opt in that night | Same night, in cash |
| Closest to the pin (CTP) on the par 3 7th | $2 a week | Golfers who opt in that night | Same night, in cash |
| Season pot | $20 once, at sign-up | All 24 golfers | At the banquet, by season standing |
A golfer who plays every game every week puts in $5 + $2 = $7 a week. Over 16 weeks that is 16 x $7 = $112, plus the $20 season pot, so $132 is the most anyone can lose to side games all season. Show members that ceiling when you ask what buy-in feels comfortable. Dues are separate: see how much golf league dues should be.
The games in two or three sentences each
- Skins. The lowest score on a hole wins that hole's skin. Ties carry the skin forward, so one tie, all tie and the next hole is worth two skins. See the skins format page for the rules in full.
- Closest to the pin (CTP). Nearest the hole on a marked par 3, with the ball on the green. Measure it, write the distance on the card, and decide before the season what happens if nobody hits the green.
- Long drive. Longest drive that finishes in the fairway on one marked hole. Give each flight its own prize. It ignores handicap, and it is the first game to drop.
- Low net and low gross of the week. Best net and best raw score that night. Write a one-award-per-golfer rule so the same low-handicap player does not take both prizes every week, and write a tie rule.
- Birdie, greenie and deuce pools. Small pots that pay for a birdie, a par 3 green, or a two. They need a tiny buy-in and one person keeping the list.
Thursday Nine skips the last two to keep the night short: pick two or three games, not all of them.
Skins: gross or net, carryover or not
Two choices belong in your rules before the first tee.
Gross or net. Gross skins use raw scores, so a birdie wins and a high handicap rarely gets a look. Net skins subtract each golfer's handicap strokes hole by hole. Those strokes start from the course handicap, which the Rules of Handicapping describe as the number of strokes a player receives or gives on a given course, and the playing handicap applies a handicap allowance to it. For individual stroke play, Appendix C recommends a 95% allowance for net events in medium-sized fields. A skins game is your own format, so the league may choose a different allowance if it writes the number down. Thursday Nine plays net skins off 100% of the 9-hole playing handicap, with strokes going to the hardest holes first by the stroke index on the card. For nine-hole numbers, see handicaps for a 9-hole league.
Carryover or not. With carryover, a tie builds a bigger skin for the next hole. Without it, a tied hole is dead and the money does not move. If you carry over, the rules must also say what happens to skins still carried after the last hole.
One rule of golf matters if skins are scored from stroke-play cards. Rule 3.3c says a player must hole out at each hole, while the concession in Rule 3.2b is a match play idea. So a "gimme" does not make a score in a stroke-play skins game unless your rules set a distance inside which a putt counts as one stroke. In a match play league, conceding is part of the game.
Worked example: one Thursday of net skins, hole by hole
On the example night, 18 of the 24 golfers opted in to skins. Pot: 18 x $5 = $90. Below are their gross nine-hole totals and their net score on each hole (strokes already taken off). Net scores on a par 36 course run low, since a golfer's nine-hole strokes come off the gross.
| Golfer | 9-hole hcp | Gross | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 | |
| Dave | 4 | 38 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 34 |
| Maria | 6 | 43 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 37 |
| Sam | 7 | 41 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 34 |
| Paula | 8 | 41 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 33 |
| Luis | 9 | 47 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 38 |
| Chris | 10 | 46 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Ana | 5 | 37 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 32 |
| Tom | 11 | 44 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 33 |
| Beth | 12 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 34 |
| Raj | 3 | 37 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 34 |
| Kim | 6 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 34 |
| Joe | 8 | 43 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 35 |
| Lena | 9 | 48 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 39 |
| Omar | 7 | 43 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Nina | 10 | 42 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 32 |
| Pete | 11 | 47 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| Ruth | 12 | 44 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 32 |
| Gus | 5 | 40 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
How to read it: a 12-handicap on 18 holes is about a 6 on nine, and Maria (6) shot 43 gross. Beth and Ruth are 12s on nine and shot 46 and 44. The lowest net on each hole, and who made it:
| Hole | Par | Lowest net | Golfers with it | Result | Skins paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2 | Gus | Gus wins | 1 |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 golfers | Tie, carries | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 golfers | Tie, carries | 0 |
| 4 | 5 | 3 | Paula | Paula wins hole 4 plus the two carried skins | 3 |
| 5 | 4 | 2 | Ana | Ana wins | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | 2 | Tom | Tom wins | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | Beth | Beth wins | 1 |
| 8 | 4 | 3 | Dave, Sam | Tie, carries | 0 |
| 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 golfers | Tie, and no hole left | 0 |
Holes 8 and 9 tied, so 2 skins are still carried when the round ends. Thursday Nine's rule says skins still carried after hole 9 are not awarded, and the pot is divided among the skins actually won. That is 1 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 7 skins out of a possible 9.
The arithmetic, from python3:
- Exact value of a skin: $90 / 7 = $12.857...
- Whole dollars, rounded down: $12 a skin, 7 x $12 = $84 paid, $90 - $84 = $6 left over.
- Payouts: Paula 3 x $12 = $36. Gus, Ana, Tom and Beth 1 x $12 = $12 each. Total $36 + 4 x $12 = $84.
Cash does not come in cents, so every league needs a leftover rule, written before it matters. Two that work:
| Leftover rule | What happens to the $6 | Paula | Gus | Ana | Tom | Beth | Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Leftover to the season pot | $6 goes to the season pot | $36 | $12 | $12 | $12 | $12 | $84 paid + $6 = $90 |
| B. Extra dollars by hole order | One extra $1 to each of the first 6 skins in hole order (Gus, Paula x3, Ana, Tom) | $39 | $13 | $13 | $13 | $12 | $90 |
Thursday Nine uses rule A. It keeps every skin worth the same, so there is nothing to argue about, and the $6 shows up as a line in the ledger. Do not round a skin up to $13: 7 x $13 = $91 is more than the pot, and the treasurer would be $1 short.
Skins payout table: pot split by number of skins won
The value of a skin depends on how many skins the night produces, because carried skins are only paid when someone wins a hole outright. Here is the 18-golfer, $90 pot at every possible result, rounded down to whole dollars (python3 output).
| Skins won | Exact per skin | Whole dollars per skin | Total paid | Leftover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90.00 | $90 | $90 | $0 |
| 2 | $45.00 | $45 | $90 | $0 |
| 3 | $30.00 | $30 | $90 | $0 |
| 4 | $22.50 | $22 | $88 | $2 |
| 5 | $18.00 | $18 | $90 | $0 |
| 6 | $15.00 | $15 | $90 | $0 |
| 7 | $12.86 | $12 | $84 | $6 |
| 8 | $11.25 | $11 | $88 | $2 |
| 9 | $10.00 | $10 | $90 | $0 |
| 0 | n/a | n/a | $0 | $90 held |
The zero-skin night. When nobody wins a hole outright, the rule is the league's call. The simplest is that the whole $90 rolls into next week. If the same 18 golfers enter, next week's skins pot is $90 + $90 = $180. A rolled pot makes the next week a bigger event: with 9 skins won it would be $180 / 9 = $20 a skin. Say in the rules that a rolled pot only pays golfers who enter that week, and whether it rolls once or indefinitely.
You can score any card with the free skins calculator. It follows the same one-tie-all-tie logic.
Worked example: closest to the pin over four weeks
Thursday Nine puts $2 a week into CTP on the par 3 7th. Opt-ins vary: 24, 22, 24 and 21 golfers over four weeks. In weeks 2 and 3 nobody hits the green, and in week 4 someone finally does. The two rules give different money.
Rule 1: unclaimed prize carries to next week.
| Week | Golfers in | New money | Carried in | Prize pot | Outcome | Carried out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | 24 x $2 = $48 | $0 | $48 | Winner on the green, paid $48 | $0 |
| 2 | 22 | 22 x $2 = $44 | $0 | $44 | Nobody on the green | $44 |
| 3 | 24 | 24 x $2 = $48 | $44 | $92 | Nobody on the green | $92 |
| 4 | 21 | 21 x $2 = $42 | $92 | $134 | Winner on the green, paid $134 | $0 |
Rule 2: no carryover, unclaimed money goes to the season pot. Week 1 pays $48. Weeks 2 and 3 pay nobody, and $44 + $48 = $92 goes to the season pot. Week 4 pays only its own $42.
The four weeks take in $48 + $44 + $48 + $42 = $182. Rule 1 pays out $48 + $134 = $182. Rule 2 pays $48 + $42 = $90 and moves $92 into the season pot. Rule 1 makes a $134 jackpot for a $2 bet; rule 2 is steadier. Both are fine. The failure is not writing either one down.
For the ball: a ball at rest is played as it lies, and Rule 9 gives a penalty stroke if a player lifts or moves it, with exceptions such as accidental movement on the putting green. On the putting green a golfer may mark and lift the ball, so measure CTP first and let the golfer mark it after. On a tie within an inch, split the prize. For 3 golfers sharing the $92 pot it would be $92 / 3 = $30.67, so the cents rule applies again: $30 each and $2 left over.
Worked example: the $20 season pot at 24 and at 40 golfers
The season pot is the quiet one. Each golfer puts in $20 at sign-up, it sits in one place, and it is paid by season standing at the banquet. Standings come from your main format, not from the side games (see points systems).
| League | Pot | Split | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 golfers | 24 x $20 = $480 | 50/30/20 | $240 | $144 | $96 | $480 | |
| 40 golfers | 40 x $20 = $800 | 50/30/20 | $400 | $240 | $160 | $800 | |
| 40 golfers | $800 | 40/25/20/15 | $320 | $200 | $160 | $120 | $800 |
Bigger fields can pay more places so more golfers have a chance. Ties will happen, and tied golfers share the money of the places they fill:
| Situation (24 golfers, 50/30/20) | Math | Each gets |
|---|---|---|
| Two tie for 2nd | ($144 + $96) / 2 | $120 |
| Two tie for 1st | ($240 + $144) / 2, 3rd still $96 | $192 |
| Three tie for 1st | ($240 + $144 + $96) / 3 | $160 |
Those come out in whole dollars, but not always. Suppose one golfer left in week 3 and the other 23 were paid in: 23 x $20 = $460. A three-way tie for first splits the whole pot: $460 / 3 = $153.33, so $153 each, 3 x $153 = $459 and $1 is left over. A leftover rule from the skins section handles it: the $1 goes to the CTP fund, or to the banquet, or to the golfer lower in the tiebreak. Pick one.
The free payout calculator runs these splits.
Decision table: which games, gross or net
The best set of side games depends on three things: how many golfers, how comfortable the buy-in is, and how far apart the handicaps are.
| League size | Buy-in comfort | Handicap spread | Use these | Gross or net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 to 12 | $1 to $3 a game | Within about 6 strokes | Skins plus CTP | Gross is fine; ties are the only problem |
| 8 to 12 | $5 or more | Wide, 5 to 30 | Net skins only | Net |
| 13 to 24 | $1 to $3 | Any | CTP, low net of the week | Net for low net, none for CTP |
| 13 to 24 | $3 to $5 | Wide | Net skins, CTP, season pot | Net skins; low gross of the week if a few golfers dominate |
| 25 to 40 | $2 to $5 | Wide | Two skins groups by handicap (for example 0 to 8 and 9 and up), CTP on two par 3s, season pot with 4 places | Net within each group |
| 25 to 40 | Under $2 | Any | Season pot and one CTP only | None; keep it light |
| One volunteer, no treasurer | Any | Any | Weekly low net pot paid that night, nothing that carries | Net |
| Mixed ages and tees | Any | Any | Long drive by flight, or skip it | Gross, within the flight |
These are suggestions, not rules of golf, and the net column assumes you pick an allowance such as the 95% in Appendix C or 100% and write it down. A skins game gets harder to win as the field grows. In the sample night, 18 net golfers produced only 7 skins and left 2 unawarded, while hole 3 had 10 golfers tied. Splitting a big field into two groups is the usual fix.
Common mistakes and the fix
| Mistake | What goes wrong | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No written leftover rule | Seven skins from a $90 pot leaves $6 and an argument | Write the rule: leftover to the season pot, or extra dollars in hole order |
| No rule for skins still carried after hole 9 | Two golfers think the last skins roll to next week, others think they vanish | Say "not awarded, pot divided among skins won" or "held for next week" |
| Taking buy-ins after the round | Winners are paid by people who now want to leave | Collect before the first tee, from an opt-in list |
| No opt-in list | Nobody agrees who was in the skins game, so the pot size is disputed | Write names on the card or sheet before the tee. Opt-ins set the pot |
| Gross skins in a wide field | The same 3 low handicaps win every skin | Net skins, or split into groups |
| CTP without the green rule | Arguments over a ball in the rough | Ball must be on the green, measured, distance written on the card |
| Rounding a skin up | 7 x $13 = $91 from a $90 pot, so the treasurer is short | Round down to whole dollars and park the leftover by rule |
| Commissioner holds the cash and plays | Every dispute has a conflict of interest | Treasurer holds money, commissioner rules on disputes |
| Letting side games touch standings | Handicaps and points get tangled with money | Keep the money layer separate from points and handicaps |
Cash handling checklist
Side money fails when it is vague. For Thursday Nine, the treasurer works this list every week.
- Who holds the money. The treasurer, not the commissioner, and not the golfer who won last week. One envelope per game, labeled.
- When it is paid in. Before the first tee. No opt-in, no buy-in, no payout. Skins and CTP buy-ins are written on the opt-in sheet next to the golfer's name.
- When winners are posted. The same night, with game, winner, amount and CTP distance, in the group message or on the sheet by the scoring table.
- When winners are paid. That night, in cash, from the right envelope. A payout that waits a week becomes a question.
- What gets recorded. Money in, money out and balance for each pot, every week.
- Leftovers. Whatever the leftover rule says, moved at the end of the night, not left in an envelope.
- Season pot. Kept in one place, separate from dues and weekly money, and never lent to another pot.
Here is week 1 of Thursday Nine as the treasurer would record it:
| Item | In | Out | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skins buy-ins (18 x $5) | $90 | $90 | |
| Skins payouts (7 skins x $12) | $84 | $6 | |
| Leftover to season pot | $6 | $0 | |
| CTP buy-ins (24 x $2) | $48 | $48 | |
| CTP payout (winner on the green) | $48 | $0 | |
| Total cash taken | $138 | $138 | $0 |
Check: $90 + $48 = $138 in, $84 + $6 + $48 = $138 out. You can keep that ledger on paper, in a shared sheet or in an app. Gimme's side games feature scores skins as gross, net or both with carryover, works out payouts in whole cents with the largest remainder rule, and keeps a pot ledger with CSV export. Collecting buy-ins by card is part of dues collection and turns on before the 2027 season, so today you still collect side money your own way. For dues, see how to collect golf league dues.
A ready-to-paste side games rules block
Put this in your league rules or bylaws and change the bracketed parts. It carries the decisions from this guide, and its handicap clause follows the playing handicap in Rule 6 of the Rules of Handicapping.
SIDE GAMES
1. Optional. Side games are voluntary. Dues do not include side-game money, and a golfer may skip any or all games.
2. Games. The league offers: net skins ($[5] a week), closest to the pin on hole [7] ($[2] a week), and a season pot ($[20], paid at sign-up).
3. Opt-in. A golfer enters a game by writing their name on the opt-in sheet and paying before the first tee. The golfers on the sheet set the pot. No entry, no payout.
4. Handicaps. Net scores use each golfer's playing handicap at a [100]% allowance, with strokes taken on the hardest holes first by stroke index.
5. Skins. Lowest net score on a hole wins one skin. A tie carries the skin to the next hole. Skins still carried after the last hole are not awarded. The pot is divided by the number of skins won. If no skin is won, the pot rolls to next week and pays only golfers who enter that week.
6. Putting. Every putt is holed out [or: putts inside [N] inches count as one stroke].
7. Closest to the pin. The ball must be on the green. The group measures before the ball is marked and lifted, and the distance is written on the card. If nobody is on the green, the prize [carries to next week / goes to the season pot]. Ties within [1] inch split the prize.
8. Rounding. Payouts are rounded down to whole dollars. Leftover dollars go to [the season pot]. Tied golfers split the money of the places they fill.
9. Season pot. Paid to the top [3] in season standings as [50/30/20]. The standings come from the league's main format.
10. Money. The treasurer holds all side-game money in separate labeled envelopes or accounts. The commissioner does not hold cash.
11. Posting. Winners, amounts and CTP distances are posted the same night. Winners are paid that night.
12. Records. The treasurer records money in, money out and balance for every pot each week. Any member may see the ledger on request.
13. Disputes. The commissioner decides on the night. A rule change takes effect next season, by vote.
Keep it optional, small and legal
Keep side money separate from dues so a golfer can pay dues and skip the games. If a bad night hurts someone's weekend, the buy-in is too high; Thursday Nine's $132 season ceiling is a number members can see and agree to.
Local laws on wagering vary by country, state and even city, and this is not legal advice. As one example of how the wording differs, Minnesota's gambling statute defines a bet and then says a private social bet not part of or incidental to organized, commercialized, or systematic gambling is not a bet. Whether a weekly league pot counts as private and social is a question for your own state's law and your course. For golf's own view, the Rules of Amateur Status guidance, as summarized by the Golf Club Managers' Association, describes acceptable gambling as where the players generally know each other, participation is not required, and all money won is contributed by the participants.
On prizes and taxes, the IRS says gambling winnings are fully taxable and must be reported on a tax return, including cash and the value of prizes. Whether a small league pot counts is a question for a tax professional. If you want to run a drawing or raffle, ask your course or your state first; this guide does not cover them.