Golf Solitaire Rules: How to Play and Win

The layout

Seven columns of five cards each are dealt face-up, 35 cards in total. The remaining 17 cards form the stock, and the top card turns over to start the waste pile.

The rules

• Take a card from the bottom of any column if it is one rank higher or one rank lower than the card on the waste pile.
• Kings and Aces connect, so the sequence never stops.
• Only the bottom card of each column is available at any time.
• Flip a new stock card whenever you have no move — and only then.
• You win by clearing all 35 cards before the stock runs out.

Unlike TriPeaks, you cannot flip the stock at will in most versions of Golf. You flip when you are stuck. That single difference makes Golf a game about never getting stuck.

The cleanup rule that wins games

Most Golf versions include a cleanup: when you cannot move, the bottom card of each column is swept up and redealt. Understanding when the cleanup is coming changes how you play the early game.

• Do not panic when you stall — a stall is often the setup for a good cleanup.
• Before you play a move, check whether it drains a column. An empty column removes one of your cleanup cards and changes the redeal.
• Keep an eye on how many columns have a genuine move left. If only one does, taking it might strand you.

How to think about the stock

The stock is 17 cards and each one is a rank you must use or lose. Because you flip only when stuck, the order in which you clear your columns determines which stock cards you actually see. Clearing from the top of a column down, in the right order, lets you ride a single stock card through several moves.

Golf vs TriPeaks vs Klondike

Golf is the gentlest introduction to the rank-clearing family. Play Golf Solitaire to try it, and when the rules feel automatic, TriPeaks Solitaire rules is the natural next step up.