Golf Solitaire

How to Play Golf Solitaire

What Is Golf Solitaire?

Golf Solitaire is one of the quickest and friendliest card games in the solitaire family. A single game takes only a few minutes, the rules fit in one sentence, and yet every deal makes you think. The idea is simple: clear cards from the table onto a single waste pile, one at a time, by always playing a card that is one rank higher or lower than the card on top of the pile. The name comes from golf-style scoring. Just as a golfer wants the fewest strokes, you want the fewest cards left on the table when the game ends. Zero cards left is the perfect round.

The Layout

Golf Solitaire uses one standard deck of 52 cards, arranged in three parts:

• The tableau. Seven columns of 5 cards each, spread across the middle of the screen, 35 cards in total. Every card is face up, so you can see the whole board from the start. Only the bottom card of each column, the one fully visible and nearest to you, is available to play. When it leaves, the card behind it becomes available.
• The waste pile. One card is turned face up at the start of the game to begin the waste pile. This is the pile you play onto, and only its top card matters.
• The stock. The remaining 16 cards sit face down in a pile next to the waste. When you are stuck, you turn one stock card over onto the waste to get a fresh starting point.

The One Rule of Play

Look at the top card of the waste pile. You may play any available tableau card that is one rank higher or one rank lower than it. That is the whole rule. Suits never matter in Golf, and neither does color. Only rank counts.

For example, if the waste shows a Jack, you may play any 10 or any Queen. If it shows a 5, you may play any 4 or any 6. Each card you play becomes the new top of the waste, which changes what you can play next. This is where the fun lives: one good starting card can set off a long chain. Say the waste shows an 8 and your columns offer the right cards. You could play a 9, then a 10, then a Jack, then another 10, then a 9, then an 8, walking up and back down again: 9-10-J-10-9-8. Six cards gone from a single stock card. Spotting these up-and-down chains before you start them is the heart of the game.

One boundary to remember: the ranks do not wrap around. Kings and Aces are the ends of the line. On a King you may play only a Queen, and on an Ace you may play only a 2. You cannot play an Ace on a King or a King on an Ace. This makes Kings and Aces the trickiest cards on the table, because each one can only be reached from a single rank.

The Stock

When no tableau card is one rank away from the waste top, or when you simply choose to stop a chain, click the stock. It turns one card face up onto the waste pile, giving you a new rank to work from. You get one pass through the stock and no redeals: there are only 16 stock cards, and once the last one is turned, the waste pile is all you have. When the stock is empty and no tableau card can be played, the game ends.

How to Win and How to Score

You win by clearing all 35 tableau cards onto the waste pile. Any cards left on the table when you run out of moves are your score, and just like strokes in golf, lower is better. If you do not clear the board, do not be discouraged; many deals cannot be cleared completely, and shaving your leftover count from eight down to three is real progress. Getting to zero, the hole in one of Golf Solitaire, is a genuine achievement worth celebrating.

Playing on This Site

Playing is as easy as pointing. Click or tap any available card to send it to the waste pile when it is a legal play; if you prefer, you can also drag the card onto the waste. Click the face-down stock to turn the next card. The buttons above the table give you a New deal, Undo, Redo, and a Hint when you cannot spot a play. Undo is unlimited, so you can rewind a whole chain and try a different route without penalty. Every deal also has a seed number, so you can replay the exact same deal to beat your own score, or share the seed with a friend and see who leaves fewer cards on the table.

Golf Solitaire Strategy & Tips

Count the Ranks

The single most useful habit in Golf Solitaire is counting. There are exactly four of every rank in the deck: four 5s, four Jacks, four Kings, and so on. Because every tableau card is face up, you can always check how many of a rank are still on the table and how many have already gone to the waste.

• Before playing a 6 on a 7, glance around: how many 6s are visible? If three 6s are buried deep and this is the only reachable one, think about whether a 5 or 7 elsewhere needs it more later.
• When all four cards of a rank are gone, the ranks on either side of it lose a partner. If every 8 has been played, your remaining 7s can only ever leave on a 6, and your 9s only on a 10.

Look for the Long Chain First

Cards do not score one at a time in your mind; they score in chains. Before you play anything onto a fresh waste card, trace the longest chain you can find, including the up-and-down turns.

• A chain can change direction as often as you like: 9-10-J-10-9-8 is perfectly legal and clears six cards.
• Two chains may start from the same card, but you can only play one. Follow each a few steps in your head and pick the one that clears more cards or unburies something important.
• Prefer plays that free up column bottoms holding useful ranks. A chain that ends by exposing a card you need next is worth more than one card extra somewhere else.

Middle Ranks Are Gold, Edges Are Traps

A 7 or an 8 can be played on either of two neighboring ranks and keeps chains alive in both directions. The middle of the deck is where flexibility lives.

• Aces and Kings are dead ends. Since ranks do not wrap, an Ace can only ever land on a 2, and a King only on a Queen. Nothing can be played on top of a King except a Queen, and nothing on an Ace except a 2.
• Deal with Kings and Aces early when the chance appears. Every Queen you spend on a King is a Queen that cannot rescue a Jack later, so plan those pairings deliberately.
• Columns with a King or an Ace buried in the middle deserve early attention. The longer you wait, the fewer partners remain to pull them off.

Treat the Stock Like a Scarce Resource

You have only 16 stock cards and a single pass, so every flip is precious.

• Never click the stock while a legal tableau play remains, unless you can see that the play leads nowhere and the waste card is more useful preserved. In almost every case, play out your chains first.
• Each stock card is worth the most when the board is stuck. Flipping while chains are still available wastes its rescue power.
• Late in the game, count what is left. If four cards remain on the table and three stock flips remain, you know exactly how many chances you have and can weigh each play accordingly.

Balance the Columns

• Where you have a choice, take cards from the tallest columns to keep every column shrinking evenly. One stubborn full column at the end is the most common way to lose.
• Use Undo freely to test a chain and roll it back. With full information and unlimited undos, most deals reward a little experimenting before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions

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