A skins game is a type of scoring for various sports. It has its origins in

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

but has been adapted for

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

Golf

, a skins event has players compete for prize money on each individual hole.

Skins Game, PGA Tour

There was an annual skins game for male professional golfers which took place in November or December each year after the end of the official

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

season (1983–2008). It was recognized by the PGA Tour but did not count towards the official money list.

Telus Skins Game

There is an annual skins game in Canada for male professional golfers which takes place in June or July each year. It is recognized by the PGA Tour but does not count towards the official money list. It is currently sponsored by

Telus Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voi ...

and is officially known as the Telus World Skins Game, hosted at a different golf course each year within Canada. The Telus Skins Game also incorporated a theme, a "world" theme. The "world" theme incorporates five golfers from different countries).

Notes

The popularity of the tournament led to the term ''skins game'' being used to refer to progressive jackpot events where if a prize is not won, it is carried over to the next round for a combined jackpot. At least in the early versions of the Jack Nicklaus Golf series of computer games, players were given a choice of

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

or Skins rules (and in the initial set-up of a game, could set any value for any hole).

Curling

A skins game format has also been adapted to the game of

. In this format, teams play for ends, not scoring within an end, though points (or in some competitions, prize money as in golf's version) may be assigned to each end. To win an end, the team that has "the hammer" — the one which throws the last stone in the end, an inherent advantage — must score at least two points (under normal scoring rules) to win the end. The other team may win the end by stealing one point. If the team with the hammer gets only one point or the end is blanked, then the game points or prize money associated with that end carry over to the next, as with the golf skins game. If there are unclaimed skins after the final end, they are usually played off with a "draw to the button" — each team throws a single stone into an empty house (target), with the stone coming closest to the button (center) winning. Scoring in curling skins games is done in one of two methods: in one method, an "S" is denoted if a team wins a skin, and a "C" is denoted for the team with the hammer if there is a carryover. In any event, a "0" is denoted for the other team, and an asterisk is placed beside the team with the hammer. In the other method, an "X" is denoted if a team wins a skin, and a "0" is denoted if the skin is carried over (under the team with the hammer), with the other team's entry for the end being blank. This method, however, does not keep track of which team will have the hammer in an end (which instead must be determined based on the score markings). The

Continental Cup of Curling The Continental Cup is a curling tournament held annually between teams from North America (sometimes just Canada) against teams from the rest of the World (sometimes just Europe). Each side is represented by six teams (three women's teams and thr ...

is the best-known bonspiel to utilize the skins format. In this bonspiel, the skins portion is played for a total of 30 points, with point values assigned to each end as follows: One half point each for the first six ends, one point each for the seventh and eighth ends. There are 6 skins games with 5 skins available each game. These points are combined with those earned in earlier matches of mixed doubles, singles skills and traditional team games to determine the winner of the Cup. Continental Cup of Curling official website
/ref> The

TSN Skins Game The TSN All-Star Curling Skins Game is an annual curling bonspiel hosted by The Sports Network. " Skins" curling had been developed as a way to make curling more interesting on TV during the time before the free guard zone rule was implemented. T ...

was an annual tournament which featured skins games. The Network was restarted in 2007. The Skins Game was thought to have been invented by

Doug Maxwell Douglas Dean Maxwell (c. 1927 – August 31, 2007) was a noted Canadian journalist and broadcaster, noted for his coverage in the sport of curling. Among his accomplishments, Maxwell served as director of the World Curling Championships for 18 year ...

, a noted innovator in the sport. Early skins games often consisted of ten ends, the standard length of a modern competitive curling game. Today, largely on account of the influence of television, eight end games (the usual length of a recreational or semi-competitive curling game) has become the standard for skins competition.

References

External links

*
TELUS Skins Game Official Website
{{Golf, state=collapsed Golf terminology Curling terminology