For other uses, see Gimme (disambiguation). In golf, a gimme is a shot that the other players agree can count automatically without being played. When a player has only a very short putt left to play, other players may grant a gimme (i.e., one stroke is counted), but the ball is not played. A gimme is a time-saving convention under the tacit assumption that the putt would not have been missed, e.g., when the ball is only a few inches from the hole.