Skipper
A skipper is a golf shot hit low and hard on purpose so the ball skips across the surface of a pond and bounces onto dry land on the far side. The term is best known from the Masters, where players skip balls across the water at Augusta National’s par-3 16th hole during practice rounds.
What is a skipper in golf?
A skipper is a trick shot. Instead of flying the ball over a pond, the player drives it into the water at a shallow angle so it skims across the surface like a stone, hops up the far bank, and, with a bit of luck, finishes on the green. Intent is what separates a skipper from a mishit that happens to skate across a hazard.
Most golf fans meet the word during Masters week. Skipping balls across the pond at Augusta National’s 16th has been a practice-round ritual for decades, and writers and commentators call a successful attempt “a skipper.” When Jon Rahm skipped his ball across that pond and into the hole before the 2020 Masters, GOLF.com reported that his skipper did exactly what he intended: three hops off the water before climbing the bank into the cup.
The word has a second, unrelated meaning in golf. Borrowed from sailing and team sports, skipper is also everyday shorthand for the captain of a side at team events. NBC Sports, for example, called Keegan Bradley the youngest American Ryder Cup skipper since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Context makes it obvious which meaning applies: one is a shot, the other is a person.
How a skipper works
The physics are the same as skimming a stone across a lake. The ball has to meet the water at a shallow angle with plenty of speed behind it. A ball driven in too steeply dives straight under. One launched too high clears the water without ever touching it, which defeats the purpose.
Every bounce bleeds speed, so the shot must be struck firmly. According to Golfweek, players who skip balls across the 16th-hole pond at Augusta generally need five or six hops to reach the far bank, and some balls run out of energy and sink along the way.
Club choice is the shot’s other defining trait. Players reach for a long iron with little loft (loft is the angle of the clubface, which controls how high the ball launches) because a low, driving flight is what produces that shallow entry into the water. Rickie Fowler told Golf Digest he plays the shot with a 4-iron, the same club Vijay Singh punched for his famous skip-shot ace in 2009. In flight, a skipper looks like an exaggerated punch shot, the low, abbreviated stroke players use to keep the ball under wind or tree branches.
The Masters tradition on the 16th hole
Augusta National’s 16th, named Redbud, was rebuilt by architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1946 and 1947, turning a short pitch over a stream into a par 3 played entirely over a pond, as Golfweek recounted in its history of the custom. That pond became the stage. During practice rounds, patrons packed around the hole chant “Skip it!” until each player drops a ball near the water’s edge and has a go. Players who get one across are cheered. Those who decline hear boos.
Nobody knows for certain who did it first. Golfweek has reported the existence of a 1979 practice-round photo showing Tom Kite skipping a ball across the pond, and Canadian amateur Gary Cowan told the outlet he skimmed a 3-iron across in 1972 while playing with Ben Crenshaw. Lee Trevino has claimed he once skipped a 1-iron across during an actual tournament round in the early 1980s and still made par, a story recounted by Golf Compendium. Ken Green and Mark Calcavecchia said they started it in 1987, a claim the photo record disproves, though most accounts credit the pair with popularizing the stunt. Green’s reward was a scolding letter from then-chairman Hord Hardin.
Three players have skipped a ball into the hole on camera: Vijay Singh in 2009, Martin Kaymer in 2012, and Jon Rahm in 2020, according to CBS News and Golf Compendium. Rahm’s came on his 26th birthday and was his second hole-in-one of that tournament week, per the Washington Post.
Skipper the shot vs. skipper the captain
Because the same word covers two different things, it helps to see the usages side by side.
| Usage | What it means | Where golfers hear it |
|---|---|---|
| Skipper (the shot) | A ball deliberately skipped across water and onto dry land | Masters practice rounds, trick-shot videos, casual play |
| Skipper (the captain) | The captain of a team at a match-play team event | Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup coverage |
| Accidental skip | A thinned mishit that happens to bounce off water | Everyday golf, usually followed by relief or a lucky bounce |
The accidental version deserves a word. A bladed or thinned shot (one struck with the club’s leading edge, producing a low screamer) can skate across a pond by accident. The physics match a skipper exactly; the intent does not.
Related Golf Terms
- Check shot — A shot that stops quickly on the green thanks to backspin.
- Three-quarter shot — A shortened swing producing a softer, more controlled shot.
- Bladed shot — A thin mishit struck with the club’s leading edge.
- Spinner — A wedge shot struck with heavy backspin that grabs and checks up.
- Half shot — A partial-length swing used to control distance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a skipper legal in golf?
Nothing in the Rules of Golf prohibits playing a ball off the surface of water. The Augusta version is casual, hit with a spare ball during practice, but the shot would be legal in competition. The gamble is a penalty stroke if the ball sinks in the penalty area, the marked water from which relief costs a stroke.
What club do players use for a skipper?
Long irons with minimal loft. Fowler and Singh both played theirs with a 4-iron. Cowan used a 3-iron for the earliest documented attempt in 1972.
Has anyone made a hole-in-one with a skipper?
Yes. Singh (2009), Kaymer (2012), and Rahm (2020) all skipped balls across the 16th-hole pond and into the cup on camera, and Golf Compendium reports that other skip-shot aces have gone unfilmed.
Why do fans yell “Skip it!” at the Masters?
It’s the customary chant patrons use to urge each group into attempting the shot. Augusta National has embraced the spectacle and now live-streams the 16th hole during practice rounds.
Does skipper mean captain in golf?
Yes. Golf media routinely call Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup captains skippers, the same usage found in cricket or soccer.
Sources
- Golf Digest. “Masters 2026: 5 keys to hitting Augusta National’s famous water-skipping trick shot.” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/masters-water-skipping-shot-16th-hole-practice-rounds - Golfweek / USA Today. “Skipping balls across the pond at 16 is a tradition like no other at Augusta National.” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2016/04/04/pga-tour-masters-tradition-skipping-balls-pond-16/ - Golfweek / USA Today. “Tradition of skipping golf balls across 16th hole during Masters practice rounds actually started with this guy.” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2024/04/09/masters-2024-tradition-skipping-golf-balls-16-hole-practice-rounds-gary-cowan/ - CBS News. “Watch: Kaymer’s water-skip hole-in-one at Augusta.” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/watch-kaymers-water-skip-hole-in-one-at-augusta/ - The Washington Post. “Jon Rahm’s pond-skipping hole-in-one at Masters has been done but was still incredible.” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/11/10/jon-rahm-masters-hole-in-one/ - GOLF.com. “WATCH: Jon Rahm makes magical skipping ace on Augusta National’s 16th.” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://golf.com/news/jon-rahm-skip-ace-augusta-national/ - Golf Compendium. “Who Started the Masters Ball Skipping Tradition on Augusta’s 16th Hole?” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://www.golfcompendium.com/2021/03/who-started-masters-ball-skipping-tradition.html - Golf News Net. “Who started skipping golf balls across the pond on No. 16 at the Masters practice rounds?” Accessed July 4, 2026.
https://thegolfnewsnet.com/ryan_ballengee/2025/04/08/who-started-skipping-golf-balls-pond-no-16-masters-practice-rounds-109039/
