Golf Solitaire Rules: How to Play, Step by Step

Golf is one of the quickest solitaire games there is. A deal takes two or three minutes, the rules fit on a postcard, and there is nothing to build or sort. You simply pick cards off the table, one after another, by going one step up or one step down. It gets its name from the scoring: just as on the golf course, the lowest score wins, and many people play nine deals in a row and call it a round.

This page explains the rules from start to finish, with worked examples. These are the standard rules, and they are the rules our free Golf Solitaire game uses unless you switch on one of the easier house rules.

What You Need

• One standard deck of 52 playing cards, with the jokers taken out.
• A table with room for seven short columns of cards.
• A few minutes. Golf is a fine game for a coffee break.

The Layout

Shuffle the deck and deal seven columns of five cards each. All of these 35 cards are face up, and the cards in each column overlap so that you can read every one of them. Nothing on the table is hidden.

The remaining 17 cards are the deck (card players also call it the stock). Keep it face down. Turn its top card face up and lay it beside the deck. That one card starts the pile, sometimes called the waste pile or the foundation. Every card you remove from the table during the game goes onto this single pile. That leaves 16 cards in the deck.

The Goal

Clear all 35 cards out of the seven columns by moving them onto the pile. If you clear every column, you have won the deal. If you cannot, you still get a score: the fewer cards you leave behind, the better you did.

How to Play a Card

Look at the card on top of the pile. You may move a card from the columns onto the pile if it is exactly one rank higher or one rank lower. On a 7 you may play a 6 or an 8. On a Jack you may play a 10 or a Queen.

• Suits and colors do not matter. A red 6 or a black 6 is equally welcome on any 7.
• Only the last card of each column can be played. That is the card nearest you, the one that is fully showing. When it leaves, the card under it becomes the last card and is free to be played next.
• The card you play becomes the new top of the pile. The next card has to fit that one.
• You may change direction as often as you like. Going 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 6 is perfectly fine.
• Cards never come back. Once a card is on the pile it stays there, and cards never move from one column to another.

Example: a run of four

The pile shows a 9. The last cards of the seven columns are 10, 4, 8, Jack, 2, 5 and Queen.

1. Play the 10 on the 9. The pile now shows a 10.
2. Play the Jack on the 10.
3. Play the Queen on the Jack.
4. Taking the Jack uncovered a King in that column. Play it on the Queen.
5. Nothing can go on a King, so the run stops here.

That was four cards without touching the deck. Notice that you could have started with the 8 instead, but the 8 led nowhere: there was no 7 or 9 to follow it. Looking for the longer run before you play is the heart of the game.

Turning the Deck

When no last card fits the pile, or when you simply prefer not to play one, turn over the top card of the deck and place it face up on the pile. It becomes the new top card, and you look at the columns again.

• You turn one card at a time.
• You may turn a card even if a play is available, though it is rarely wise.
• The deck is gone through only once. When its 16 cards are used up, the pile is not turned over and reused.

This is why every card of the deck is precious. Sixteen cards have to help you clear thirty-five, so on average each one needs to start a run of more than two cards.

Kings and Aces

The two ends of the ranks have special rules, and they are what make Golf tricky.

• Aces are low. Only a 2 can be played on an Ace, and an Ace can be played only on a 2.
• Nothing can be played on a King. A King may go on a Queen, but once a King is on top of the pile the run is over. You must turn a card from the deck.
• There is no going "around the corner." A King does not go on an Ace, and an Ace does not go on a King.

House rules. Many families play a softer game. Some allow a Queen to be played on a King, so a King no longer stops the run. Others let the ranks wrap around, so that King and Ace connect. Both are offered in the Settings of our game.

Example: the King trap

The pile shows a Queen. Two columns end in a King and one ends in a Jack. Under the Jack sits a 10.

If you play a King, the run ends at once and you have removed one card. If you play the Jack first, you can follow with the 10, and perhaps more. Later, when another Queen comes to the top of the pile, the Kings will still be there waiting. A King should usually be the last card of a run, never a card in the middle of your plans.

When the Deal Ends

The deal is over in one of two ways:

• You clear all seven columns. You have won, even if cards are left in the deck.
• The deck is used up and no last card fits the pile. The deal is finished and the cards still in the columns are counted.

Scoring

Your score for a deal is the number of cards left in the columns. As in the sport, a low score is a good score.

Our game shows your score beside the deal number the whole time you play, so you can watch it count down from 35.

Playing a round of nine

The traditional way to keep score is to play nine deals, one for each hole of a short golf course, and add the nine scores together. A total of 36 or less, an average of four cards a hole, is usually thought of as playing to par, and anything under 30 is a round to be proud of. Some players take one stroke off the total for every card left in the deck when a deal is won. A pencil and the back of an envelope are all you need to keep track.

A Short Sample Deal

Here is how the first minute of a deal might go. The pile starts with a 5. The last cards of the columns are 6, King, 4, 9, 3, Ace and 7.

1. You can go up (6, then 7) or down (4, then 3). Going down, the 4 uncovers a 2, which makes the run 4, 3, 2, Ace. That is four cards, so you start there.
2. After the Ace, only a 2 would fit and there is none on show. The run is over.
3. You turn a card from the deck. It is an 8. Now the 7 fits, then the 6. The 9 would also fit on the 8, but taking the 7 first lets you play 7, 6 and keeps the 9 for later.
4. After the 6 nothing fits, so you turn the deck again, and so on until the columns are clear or the deck is gone.

Six cards are gone and you have used just one card from the deck. That is a good pace.

How to Play on This Site

• Tap a card at the end of a column and it goes to the pile. You can also drag it there.
• Tap the deck to turn over the next card. The small number on the deck tells you how many cards it still holds.
• Undo takes back your last move, and the one before, as far as you like, including cards turned from the deck.
• Hint points to the card that starts the longest run you can make right now. It never peeks at the deck.
• Restart puts the same deal back at the beginning, and every deal has a deal number you can type in to play it again or share with a friend.
• The game is saved after every move. Close the page and it will be waiting when you come back.

If a card will not move, the game tells you why in plain words, such as "nothing can be played on a King." When a deal ends without a win, the message box shows your score and reminds you that you can undo or start a new deal.

Golf Solitaire Rules at a Glance

Once the rules feel comfortable, read our Golf Solitaire strategy tips to bring your score down, or see the rule variations for easier and harder ways to play. If you enjoy clearing a table card by card, you may also like Tri Peaks and Pyramid.