Rules
Golf Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal seven tableau columns with five face-up cards in each column.
- All tableau cards are visible, but only the bottom card of each column can be played.
- Turn one card from the stock to start the waste pile.
- Play a tableau card if it is one rank higher or lower than the waste card.
- Suits do not matter in Golf Solitaire.
- This version does not wrap kings to aces or aces to kings.
- Win by clearing all 35 tableau cards before the stock is exhausted.
How to play
How to play Golf Solitaire
Golf Solitaire is built around a single waste card. Look across the bottom of the seven tableau columns. If one of those exposed cards is one rank above or below the waste card, you can play it onto the waste. A 6 can play on a 5 or 7. A queen can play on a jack or king. The suit is irrelevant.
Every card you play becomes the new waste card, so a good move can start a run. The trick is not simply taking the first legal card. The better question is which legal card leaves you with the most follow-up ranks.
Setup
Golf Solitaire setup and layout
- The tableau has seven columns with five face-up cards in each column.
- All 35 tableau cards are visible, but only the bottom card of each column is playable.
- The remaining cards become the stock after one card is turned up to start the waste.
- The waste card is the active card every tableau move must connect to.
- When you play a tableau card, it becomes the new waste card.
- The stock is used only when you need or choose to change the waste card.
Moves
What cards are playable?
A tableau card is playable only when it sits at the bottom of its column. Cards above it may be visible, but they are still blocked until the cards below them have been removed. That makes Golf a game of column timing: a card you can see is not always a card you can use.
A legal move must be exactly one rank away from the waste. Suits and colors are ignored. This site uses the strict no-wrap rule, so the rank ladder stops at both ends. Aces connect only to 2s, and kings connect only to queens.
Waste 9Play 8 or 10
Waste QueenPlay Jack or King
Waste 5Play 4 or 6
Waste AcePlay 2 only
Waste KingPlay Queen only
Stock
Stock, waste, and empty columns
The stock is your escape route, but it is also your timer. Drawing turns one stock card onto the waste, changing the rank you need next. In this version you get one pass through the stock. Once it is empty, there are no redeals.
Empty columns do not behave like Klondike spaces. You cannot move a king, sequence, or any other card into a cleared column. Golf Solitaire has no tableau building at all. Cards move in one direction only: from the bottom of a tableau column onto the waste.
Strategy
How to make longer runs
Golf rewards flexibility. Middle ranks are usually more useful than aces and kings because they can connect in two directions. A 7 can continue through 6 or 8, but an ace only connects to a 2 in this version. When two moves are available, look at the cards beneath them and choose the line that opens more playable ranks.
Avoid drawing too quickly. The stock changes the waste card, but it also spends one of your few chances to escape. If a tableau card is playable and reveals another useful card, that move is usually worth taking before you touch the stock.
When several cards are playable, prefer the move that uncovers the most flexible next rank. A 6 or 8 can often keep a run alive better than an ace or king because middle ranks have two possible neighbors. Edge ranks have only one neighbor in this no-wrap version.
Mistakes
Common Golf Solitaire mistakes
- Drawing from the stock while a useful tableau move is still available.
- Playing an ace or king too early and ending a run at the edge of the rank ladder.
- Ignoring the card that a move will uncover.
- Choosing a legal move that leaves several columns blocked by the same rank.
- Assuming suits matter. In Golf Solitaire, only rank distance matters.
- Treating empty columns like storage spaces. They cannot be filled.
About
What makes Golf Solitaire different?
Golf is quicker and looser than Klondike. You are not building foundations, alternating colors, or sorting suits. You are trying to keep a rank chain alive for as long as possible. A strong run can clear half the table; one awkward draw can leave the waste stranded far from every exposed card.
That makes Golf a good second game for this site after Aces Up. Both are fast solitaire variations where removal matters more than building, but Golf has a different rhythm: the waste card is the center of gravity, and every move changes what the next move can be.
Variants
Golf Solitaire variants and scoring
Golf has a few common house rules. Some versions allow kings and aces to wrap around, so a king can play on an ace and an ace can play on a king. This site uses the stricter no-wrap version because it makes the ends of the rank ladder matter more.
Older scoring is usually simple: count the tableau cards left when the game ends. A cleared tableau is a win. If the deal gets stuck, fewer leftover cards is better, which is where the Golf name makes sense.
A fuller scoring version is often played over nine rounds. Add one point for each tableau card left when the round ends. If you clear the tableau, some rules subtract one point for each stock card left. Like real golf, the lower total wins.
Other Golf-family games change the feel without changing the basic idea. Easy Golf usually allows king-ace wrapping. TriPeaks uses the same one-rank-up-or-down motion but puts the tableau into three overlapping peaks. Black Hole is stricter, with a single foundation-style pile and no stock rescue in many versions.
Winnability
Is Golf Solitaire winnable?
Not every Golf Solitaire deal is winnable. Sometimes the stock runs out while the tableau is full of ranks that cannot connect. Good play still matters, especially when you can choose between two legal cards. The best move is often the one that keeps the waste in the middle of the rank range and exposes another playable card.
A clean win feels like a long drive down the fairway: one card leads into the next, a column opens, the waste stays flexible, and the stock is used only when the table truly runs out of motion.
We do not publish a borrowed win percentage for this page because win rate depends on the exact rules and deal generator. A no-wrap, one-pass Golf game should be judged by its own played deals. Once the site tracks enough games, a rule-specific win rate would be worth adding.