How to play Golf
Golf is a quick solitaire played with one pack. You win by clearing all seven columns. The name comes from the scoring: the fewer cards you leave on the table, the better, like strokes on a golf course.
The layout
Thirty-five cards are dealt face up into seven columns of five. One more card is turned up to start the pile. The other 16 cards are the stock, spread out beside the pile so you can see how many are left.
Moving cards
- Only the bottom card of each column, the one nothing overlaps, can be played.
- It can go onto the pile when it is one rank higher or one rank lower than the pile’s top card. Suits and colours do not matter: a 6 or an 8 goes on a 7.
- You can change direction as often as you like: 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 6 is a fine run.
- When nothing fits, or when you choose to, tap the stock to turn its next card onto the pile.
Tap anywhere on a column to play its bottom card. The deal ends when the columns are empty, or when the stock has run out and nothing fits.
Round the corner or Classic
Round the corner treats an ace and a king as neighbours, so a king goes on an ace and an ace on a king. Classic is the stricter game: only a 2 goes on an ace and only a queen on a king, so those two ranks are where runs come to a stop. Changing the setting takes effect on your next deal.
Winnable or Random
With Winnable chosen, the game only deals shuffles that it has found a way to clear. With Random you get any shuffle, and some cannot be cleared however well you play.
Tips for winning more often
- Look for the longest run before you play the first card. The order you take cards in often decides whether a run is three cards or eight.
- When two cards of the same rank both fit, take the one sitting on the taller column, or the one that uncovers the card your run needs next.
- Count the kings and aces. In Classic a king needs a queen on the pile and an ace needs a 2, so plan for them early rather than leaving them to the end.
- Do not turn a stock card while a card on the table still fits, unless playing it would break a longer run.
- Undo is free. If a run fizzles out, go back and try the other branch.
Can every deal be won?
No. Checking every possible line of play for 300 shuffles, a little under half could be cleared with the Classic rules and about nine in ten with Round the corner. That is why Winnable is the setting the game starts with. The Hint button shows the next move of a winning line while one exists, and tells you if it finds that the table can no longer be cleared.