How to play Golf solitaire
Golf is a quick card game for one player. You deal seven columns of cards face up and try to clear them onto a single pile, one card at a time, each card one rank higher or lower than the card before it. Like the sport it is named after, you count what is left at the end, and the lowest score wins. Each deal takes a few minutes, and nothing is hidden except the draw pile, so every choice you make is one you can see.
Practice this game. Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. Play Golf solitaire in your browser, with a coach beside the cards, a Hint button that explains one good move, and Undo as often as you like.
Practice Golf solitaireGolf solitaire at a glance
- Players: One.
- Cards: A full 52-card deck. The ace is the lowest card and the king is the highest.
- Dealing: Seven columns of five cards, all face up: 35 cards. One more card face up starts the discard pile. The 16 cards left over make the draw pile.
- Goal: Clear as many cards from the columns as you can onto the discard pile.
- How play goes: Play the last card of any column onto the discard pile when it is one rank higher or lower than the top card, whatever its suit. When nothing fits, turn over the next card of the draw pile.
- Scoring: One point for each card left in the columns. Lower is better.
What you need
A full 52-card deck without jokers, and a table with room for seven columns of cards side by side. Cards go in this order, from lowest to highest: ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king. A card's place in this order is its rank, so a 7 is one rank higher than a 6 and one rank lower than an 8. In Golf the ace is always the lowest card. Suits and colors do not matter at all.
Dealing the cards
- Shuffle the deck. Deal a row of seven cards face up, from left to right. Deal a second row on top of the first, a little lower so that each card overlaps the one above it and the top of every card still shows. Keep going until there are five rows. You now have seven columns of five cards, 35 cards, and every one of them is face up.
- Turn the next card face up below the columns. This card starts the discard pile.
- Put the 16 cards that are left face down beside it. This is the draw pile.
In each column only the last card, the one at the bottom that you can see in full, can be played. The cards above it are face up so that you can plan, but they are stuck until the cards below them are gone.
Playing a card
You may play the last card of any column onto the discard pile if it is exactly one rank higher or one rank lower than the top card of the pile. The suit does not matter. On a 7 you may play any 6 or any 8. The card you play becomes the new top card, so you can often play several cards in a row: on a 7, an 8, then a 9 or a 7, and so on, going up or down as you like.
When you play the last card of a column, the card above it becomes the last card, and you can play it next if it fits. There are no turns. You make one play after another, in any order you like.
The ace and the king
The ace is low. Only a 2 can go on an ace, and an ace can go only on a 2.
In the usual rules, nothing can go on a king. A king can be played onto a queen like any other card, but once a king is on top of the discard pile, no card from the columns fits, and the next card has to come from the draw pile. An ace and a king are not next to each other: an ace does not go on a king, and a king does not go on an ace. Some players change this (see Common variations).
The draw pile
When no card fits, or whenever you choose, turn over the top card of the draw pile and put it face up on the discard pile. It is the new top card, and you go on playing from the columns onto it. You go through the draw pile only once: there is no turning it back over.
It is usually best to play every card that fits before you turn over the draw pile. The new card covers the discard pile, and a card that fits now may not fit then.
The end of a deal, and the score
The deal ends when every column is clear, or when the draw pile is used up and no card fits. Count the cards left in the columns: that is your score. Lower is better, as in the sport. A deal with three cards left scores 3.
If you clear every column, the cards still in the draw pile count in your favor: each one counts one below zero. Clearing every column with four cards left in the draw pile scores −4. Some players simply score 0 for clearing the columns (see Common variations).
Golf is often played as a round of nine deals, each called a hole. Add up the nine scores; the lowest total is best, and you can try to beat your own total next time, or play the same number of deals as a friend and compare.
Most deals cannot be cleared. Clearing all 35 cards is rare, because the cards come in the order they come and kings stop every run. Our practice game's computer player, which follows a few simple rules of thumb, cleared every column in 2 of 100 test deals and left about 9 cards in the columns on average. A score in single figures is a good deal.
Worked example. The top card of the discard pile is the 7♥. The last cards of the columns are 8♠, Q♣, 6♦, K♠, 3♣, J♥ and 2♠. Two of them fit: the 8♠ and the 6♦, because 8 and 6 are each one rank from 7. Above the 8♠ in its column is the 9♣. Above the 6♦ is the Q♥, and no column ends with a 5 or a 7, so nothing you can see could follow the 6♦. So play the 8♠ first: the 9♣ it uncovers fits on it, and the run goes on. After the 9♣, look again for an 8 or a 10.
Worked example: a king. The top card is the Q♦, and the only card that fits is the K♠ at the end of column 4. Play it: it clears a card. But nothing can go on a king, so the next card has to come from the draw pile. If a jack had also fitted, playing the jack first could have kept the run going, and the king could wait.
Play a practice game of Golf solitaire
Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. The practice game deals for you, tells you which ranks fit the top card, and explains one good move whenever you press Hint. It has no timer, and Undo has no limit, so you can try things without fear. It can also play a whole deal for you to watch, explaining every move.
Free, in your browser, with the rules and the common beginner mistakes beside the cards while you play.
Play a practice gameQuick quiz: test yourself on the rules of Golf solitaire
Six questions on the rules above. Pick an answer to see whether it is right, and why.
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The top card of the discard pile is the 7 of hearts. Which card can you play on it?
- The 7 of clubs
- The 8 of spades
- The 5 of hearts
Show the answer
The 8 of spades. A card fits when it is exactly one rank higher or lower than the top card, whatever its suit. On a 7 you may play any 6 or any 8. A 7 is the same rank, and a 5 is two ranks away.
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Which cards in a column can you play?
- Any face-up card
- Only the first card dealt into the column
- Only the last card, the one you can see in full
Show the answer
Only the last card. Every card in the columns is face up so that you can plan, but only the last card of each column can be played. Playing it frees the card above it.
-
A king is on top of the discard pile. What can you play on it?
- Nothing: turn over the next card of the draw pile
- A queen
- An ace
Show the answer
Nothing. In the usual rules nothing can go on a king, so the next card has to come from the draw pile. Some players allow a queen on a king, and some let an ace and a king go on each other, but those are variations.
-
The draw pile is used up and no card fits. What happens?
- Turn the discard pile over and use it as a new draw pile
- The deal is over, and you count the cards left in the columns
- Shuffle the cards left in the columns and deal them again
Show the answer
The deal is over. You go through the draw pile only once. Your score is the number of cards left in the columns.
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One deal ends with 3 cards left in the columns, and another with 9. Which score is better?
- 9, because more cards were played
- 3, because lower is better
- Neither: only clearing every column counts
Show the answer
3. The score is the number of cards left in the columns, and, as in the sport, lower is better. A deal with 3 cards left scores 3.
-
You clear every column with 4 cards left in the draw pile. What is your score?
- 4
- 0, always
- −4: each card left in the draw pile counts one below zero
Show the answer
−4. If you clear every column, each card still in the draw pile counts one below zero, so four cards left score −4. Some players simply score 0 for clearing the columns.
Three things beginners miss
Keep the run going
When two cards fit, look one card further. Play the one that another card you can see could follow: the card it uncovers in its own column, or the last card of another column. Every card you play before you turn over the draw pile is a card cleared for free.
Free the tallest column
When the choice is otherwise equal, play from the column with the most cards. A tall column has the most cards waiting behind its last card, and a column with one card left can wait.
Play before you turn over
If a card fits, play it before you turn over the draw pile. The new card covers the discard pile, and a card that fits now may not fit then. A king is the one card worth thinking about: once it is on the pile nothing follows it, so if another card that fits could keep a run going, play that one first.
Questions people ask
Does the suit matter?
No. Only the rank matters. Any 6 or any 8 goes on any 7, red or black, of any suit.
Can I turn over the draw pile while a card still fits?
Yes. The rules let you turn over the draw pile whenever you like. It is rarely a good idea, because the new card covers the one you could have played on.
What happens to an empty column?
It stays empty. No card ever goes into the columns in Golf: cards only leave them.
Can I go through the draw pile again?
No. You go through it once. When it is used up and nothing fits, the deal is over.
Is Golf solitaire the same as the Golf card game for several players?
No. There is also a game called Golf for two or more players, where each player tries to bring down the points in a small grid of cards in front of them by drawing and swapping. It shares only the name and the idea that a low score wins.
Common variations
Rule books and computer versions differ on a few points. If you play with other people's rules, check which of these they use. The practice game plays the usual rules above.
- A queen on a king. Some players let a queen go on a king, so a king no longer stops the run.
- Going round the corner. Some players let an ace go on a king and a king go on an ace, so the ranks go round the corner (Q, K, A, 2 ...). This version is sometimes called Putt Putt, and it makes clearing the columns much easier.
- Scoring a clear deal. In the usual scoring, each card left in the draw pile after you clear the columns counts one below zero. Some players score a clear deal as 0, however many cards are left to turn over.
- Starting the discard pile. Some players start with an empty discard pile and turn over the first card of the draw pile to begin. It is the same game with one more card in the draw pile.
- Jokers. Some players add one or two jokers as wild cards: a joker fits on anything, and anything fits on a joker.
Other names you may hear
At a real card table, or in an older rule book, you will hear other words for some of these things. Our glossary explains them.
- Golf solitaire: also called Golf patience, or One Foundation. In Britain, one-player card games are called Patience.
- columns: card players call them the tableau.
- discard pile: in Golf, card players call it the foundation, because it is the one pile every card is heading for, or the waste pile.
- draw pile: card players call it the stock.
- one deal: in Golf, a hole; nine deals make a round, as on a golf course.
- going round the corner: card players say the ranks wrap, or call it wrapping.
Keep going
- Practice Golf solitaire against the cards
- How to play Solitaire (Klondike), the classic game for one
- All the rules pages