Golf Solitaire rules: the complete guide

Golf Solitaire at a glance

Golf goes by a few names. In Britain, where solitaire games are called patience, it is Golf patience, and it is also known as One Foundation, since every card ends up on the same pile. Whatever you call it, the rule that matters most is this: a card can go on the waste only if it is exactly one rank away from the card on top.

Setting up the cards

With a real deck, shuffle well and deal like this:

1. Deal seven cards face up in a row. That is the first card of each column.
2. Deal a second row of seven on top of the first, each card overlapping the one above it so its rank and suit still show.
3. Keep going until every column has five cards. That uses 35 cards.
4. Turn the next card face up below the columns. This starts the waste (some books call it the foundation).
5. Put the remaining 16 cards face down beside it as the stock.

Every card in the layout is face up from the start. That makes Golf unusual among solitaire games: you can see 36 of the 52 cards before you make your first move, and the only secret is the order of the stock.

The card at the bottom of each overlapping column, the one with nothing on top of it, is that column’s front card. Only front cards can be played. When one goes, the card behind it becomes the new front card.

Playing cards to the waste

The one-up, one-down rule

A front card can move to the waste when its rank is exactly one higher or one lower than the top waste card. Suit and color are ignored.

Each card you play becomes the new top of the waste, so plays chain together into a run. A run can go up, down, or zigzag: 6, 7, 8, 7, 6, 5 is a perfectly good run of six cards.

A worked example

Say the waste shows the 6♣, and the front of the layout looks like this (for the example, suppose nothing deeper in the columns joins in):

Two cards fit on the 6♣: the 7♥ and the 5♦.

• The 7♥ uncovers the Q♦. On a 7 you need a 6 or an 8, and there are none at the front, so that run is one card long.
• The 5♦ starts something much better:

At step 4 there was a choice: the 2♦, or the 4♠ that step 3 had just uncovered. The 4♠ would have ended the run, since no 3 or 5 is showing. The 2♦ leads on to the A♠, and the 4♠ stays at the front for later. After the A♠ only a 2 can follow, so the run stops at five cards, and the 7♥ is still waiting at the front of column 3 for the next 6 or 8 from the stock.

That is the whole skill of Golf in miniature: trace every choice to the end before you touch a card.

Things you can’t do

• Move cards between columns. Cards only ever go from a column to the waste.
• Play a covered card. Even if the 10♥ would fit, it has to wait until the J♠ in front of it is gone.
• Take a card back off the waste. Once played, it stays there (an Undo button in an app is a convenience, not part of the rules).
• Refill an empty column. When a column is cleared, it stays empty for the rest of the deal.

Kings and Aces

In standard Golf the ranks run in a straight line from Ace (low) to King (high) and do not wrap around. Two rules follow from that:

• Nothing can be played on a King. You may play a King on a Queen, but then the run stops. The only way forward is a new card from the stock.
• Aces connect only to 2s. An Ace can go on a 2 and a 2 on an Ace. An Ace never goes on a King, and a King never goes on an Ace.

This is what makes Kings the hardest cards in the game. A King in the columns can leave only when a Queen is on top of the waste, and it always ends the run when it does. If the waste starts with a King, you simply turn the first stock card straight away.

The stock

Turn the top stock card face up onto the waste. It covers the old top card, which is out of play for good, and becomes the card you build on.

• Cards are turned one at a time.
• There is one trip through the stock. When it is empty, it stays empty.
• Most players turn the stock only when no front card fits, because there is nothing to gain by burying a card you could have played. You may turn a card at any time, though, and BieGames lets you.

When a deal ends

A deal is over in one of two ways:

1. You clear the columns. All 35 cards are on the waste. Stop there; any stock cards left are not turned.
2. You run out of plays. The stock is empty and no front card fits on the waste.

There is no “stuck but still going” state: as long as the stock has cards, you can always turn one.

Scoring

Each deal is scored like a hole of golf, where the lowest number wins.

Scoring examples

• The stock runs out with four cards still in the columns. Two are Kings sitting in front of the cards behind them, and nothing fits on the last waste card. The score is 4.
• You play the last column card with two stock cards still face down. The deal ends at once, and the score is −2. Those two cards are never turned.
• You turn the last stock card, and it starts a run that clears every column. Nothing is left in the stock, so the score is 0, the best you can do without cards to spare.

Notice that a negative score can only come from clearing the columns early, which is why a clear with stock cards in hand is the highlight of the game.

Playing a nine-hole round

The traditional way to play is a round of nine deals, adding up the scores like a golf scorecard. A total of 45 or less is generally treated as par, which works out to 5 a hole. A round can include negative holes, and they count in full.

Here is a sample round:

That round finishes exactly on par: the cleared fourth hole (−2) and the good holes balance out the 9 and the 11.

Golfers’ words fit naturally:

To play against friends, everyone plays their own nine deals and compares totals; the lowest round wins. You can also compare hole by hole, golf’s match play, where the lower score takes each hole.

Tricky cases

Two front cards fit. Do I have to play a particular one? No. Play either, and think about which leaves you better placed. Choosing well is most of the skill.

Can I play a card of the same rank? No. A 7 never goes on a 7. The ranks must differ by exactly one.

Is a 10 one rank from a Jack? Yes. The order is A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, so 10 and Jack are neighbors, as are Jack and Queen, and Queen and King.

The first waste card is a King. Now what? Under the standard rules nothing fits, so turn the first stock card.

I cleared a column. Does anything fill it? No. Empty columns stay empty, which leaves one fewer front card for the rest of the deal.

Do the cards on the waste ever come back? No. Only the top card matters, and the waste is never turned over or reused.

Can I see the stock cards in advance? No, and that is the point. Counting helps, though: every rank has four cards, so anything you can’t see in the columns or on the waste must be in the stock.

Variations

These changes are all common enough to have names or show up in rule books and apps. The standard game, used by BieGames unless you change it in Settings, is the first row.

On BieGames, the setting Playing on a King offers the standard rule, Queen on a King, and Ace–King wrap. A round keeps the rule it started with.

Close relatives

Tri Peaks uses the same one-up, one-down play, but from three overlapping peaks with some cards face down. Black Hole sends every card to one central pile too, building up or down from a layout of small fans. And despite the name, the multi-player card game Golf, where players swap cards in a grid of face-down cards, is a completely different game.

Glossary

Play Golf Solitaire online

Ready for a round? Play Golf Solitaire free on BieGames — nine holes with a real scorecard, single deals if you prefer, a new daily deal every day, and hints that plan a run from the cards you can see.