Golf Solitaire — Complete Guide

What Is Golf Solitaire?

Golf Solitaire is a fast-paced single-player card game where you clear a tableau of 35 cards by building a sequential chain onto a waste pile. The game uses a golf scoring system: uncleared cards at the end count as penalty strokes, and your goal over 9 or 18 rounds is to finish with the lowest total score — just like the sport it’s named after.

The game is quick (a single round takes 3–8 minutes), simple to learn, and highly replayable. It’s one of the most popular alternative solitaire variants alongside Pyramid and FreeCell.

Golf Solitaire Layout

Setup

1. Shuffle the full 52-card deck
2. Deal 7 columns of 5 cards face-up, overlapping — only the top (exposed) card of each column is available to play
3. Deal 1 card face-up to start the waste pile
4. Place the remaining 16 cards face-down as the stock pile

How to Play

On each turn, choose one of two actions:

1. Play a tableau card to the waste pile
If the top card of any column is exactly one rank higher or lower than the current waste pile top card, you may move it onto the waste pile. The card below it in that column becomes the new top card and is now available.

2. Draw from the stock
If no tableau card is playable, flip the top stock card onto the waste pile. The new top card is now the active card — check if any tableau cards are now playable.

End of game: The game ends when either all tableau cards are cleared (best case) or the stock is exhausted and no tableau moves remain.

Card Rank Order

No wrapping: A King cannot be played on an Ace, and an Ace cannot be played on a King. The sequence is strictly linear. A King on the waste pile is a dead end — you must draw from stock.

Direction: Both ascending and descending plays are allowed from the current waste pile top. Example: if the waste shows a 7, you can play a 6 or an 8. If you play an 8, next you can play a 7 or 9, and so on.

Scoring — The Golf System

Golf Solitaire is scored like a round of golf: fewer strokes is better.

Strokes = uncleared tableau cards remaining when the game ends

Par: Conventional par is 36 strokes for a 9-hole game (approx. 4 per hole) or 72 for 18 holes.

Scoring over multiple rounds: Each round is a “hole.” Add your strokes for each hole to get a running total. After 9 or 18 rounds, compare your total to par. Under par means you’re averaging fewer than 4 uncleared cards per round — that’s a solid result.

Cleared cards as birdies: Some scoring systems give negative strokes for cleared cards. Under this system, if you clear all 35 tableau cards, you score −35 for that round (a hole-in-one minus the 36 base). Track however you prefer — the goal remains the same: lowest total.

Strategy

1. Think in chains before playing

Before removing any card, scan the visible tableau to see where a playable sequence leads. A chain that will play 6 cards is far better than a chain of 2, even if the shorter one seems more immediately obvious.

2. Avoid playing Kings early

Kings are dead ends. If you play a card sequence that lands on a King in the waste pile, you must draw from stock regardless of what’s on the tableau. When possible, plan sequences that skip Kings or end on Kings only when the stock has favorable cards underneath.

3. Clear full columns first

Removing all 5 cards from a column eliminates that column entirely, simplifying the tableau. Empty columns can’t block you. Prioritize clearing the column that has the most consecutive-rank cards visible.

4. Keep the waste pile in a “useful” range

Mid-range cards (5–9) are adjacent to the most other ranks. After drawing from stock, aim to land in this range when possible. If stock reveals an Ace or King, expect to draw again soon.

5. Plan your stock draws

You have only 16 stock cards. Burning through them quickly (because you’re making low-value plays instead of extending chains) leaves fewer cards to unlock stuck tableau positions later. Each stock draw should feel like a last resort, not a habit.

6. Expose deeper cards

Like Klondike, deeper cards in the tableau columns are invisible until the cards above them are cleared. Clearing the top of a long column unblocks more future plays. When two chains are equally good, favor the one that exposes a deeper card.

Example Play

Waste pile top: 6 of Clubs

Tableau column tops: 5♥, 7♦, K♠, 2♣, 8♠, J♥, 9♦

Chain: Play 5♥ (one below 6) → waste shows 5 → play… look for 4 or 6.
Or: Play 7♦ (one above 6) → waste shows 7 → play 8♠ (one above 7) → waste shows 8 → play 9♦ (one above 8) → waste shows 9…

The second chain removes 3 cards; the first only 1 (assuming no further plays). Choose the chain.

Playing a Full 9-Hole Round

Par = 36. Score of 56 = +20 over par (a typical beginner score). Consistent practice gets most players to +5 to +10 over par. Breaking par across 9 holes is a meaningful achievement.