Golf solitaire card game rules

General rules of golf solitaire

1. Golf solitaire is a solitaire card game played by one person.
2. It is played with a standard 52-card deck (no jokers).
3. The goal is to finish the game with the lowest possible score.

Dealing

1. Deal 7 columns of 5 face-up cards each. This setup is called the tableau.
2. Below the tableau, deal 1 face-up card. This is the foundation.
3. Place the remaining 16 cards face-down in a pile. This is the stock.

Below you see the starting layout of golf solitaire.

Gameplay

In Golf solitaire, you move cards from the tableau to the foundation following these rules.

• Only the topmost card of each column can be played. Once a card is removed, the card beneath becomes available for play.
• A card can be moved to the foundation if it is exactly one rank higher or lower than the current foundation card, regardless of suit.
• You cannot play any card on top of a King. The card ranking is A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K. There is no wrapping, an Ace cannot be played on a King, nor can a King be played on an Ace. (Some variants do allow wrapping.)
• If no moves are available from the tableau, flip one card from the stock to the foundation and continue playing from the tableau if possible.
• You may only go through the stock once. The game ends when the stock is depleted and no more moves are available from the tableau or when you have cleared the complete tableau.
• You win if you clear all cards from the tableau.

Scoring

• If you clear the entire tableau, you subtract one point for each card remaining in the stock. Negative points are good!
• If you don’t clear the tableau, count one point for every card left in the tableau. These are penalty points.
• Many players play a 9-hole game (9 rounds), aiming for the lowest score possible. A total score of 45 is considered par. If your score is under 45, you’ve played under par.

Don’t confuse Golf solitaire with the similarly named card game Golf, which is a multiplayer game. Read the rules for Golf separately.