Golf Solitaire
Added 02/2026
Golf Solitaire: The Fast and Unforgiving Classic
By Martin Petroff
If you enjoyed the sequential, combo-building nature of TriPeaks but want something a little more brutal and straightforward, Golf Solitaire is your next stop. This game is the direct ancestor to many of the fast-paced variations we see today. It gets its name from its scoring system: just like the physical sport, your goal is to finish with the lowest score possible—meaning the fewest number of cards left on the board. Because every single card in the tableau is dealt face-up from the very beginning, it is a game of pure open-information planning. However, because the stockpile is so small, one wrong move can completely derail your entire round.
How to Play
Golf Solitaire strips away the complex tableaus and overlapping pyramids in favor of a clean, highly rigid grid. Here is how to set up the green and take your first swing.
The Objective: Your goal is to clear all 35 cards from the Tableau by moving them to a single Waste pile in sequence. If you cannot clear the board, your "score" is the number of cards remaining. Par is zero!
The Setup (The Tableau):
Shuffle a standard 52-card deck.
Deal 35 cards face up into seven columns.
Each of the seven columns will contain exactly 5 cards, overlapping slightly so you can see the values of the cards beneath them.
The remaining 17 cards become your face-down Stockpile at the bottom of the board.
How to Play:
The Starting Move: Flip the top card of your Stockpile face up to start your Waste pile.
Building the Chain: You can move any fully exposed card at the bottom of a Tableau column onto the Waste pile if it is exactly one rank higher or one rank lower than the top card of the Waste pile, completely ignoring the suit or color. (For example, if the Waste pile shows a 10, you can play a 9 or a Jack).
The Strict King Rule (Classic Variant): In traditional, strict Golf Solitaire, sequences do not wrap around. This means you can play a King onto a Queen, but you cannot play an Ace onto a King. A King is a dead end. Once a King is on the Waste pile, your streak is over and you must draw from the Stockpile. (Note: Many modern digital versions relax this rule and allow wrap-arounds, but the strict version is the classic test of skill).
Uncovering Cards: As you remove the exposed cards at the bottom of the columns, the cards directly above them become accessible.
The Draw: When you cannot find any playable cards in the Tableau that are one rank higher or lower than your Waste pile, draw one card from your Stockpile and place it face up on the Waste pile to create a new target number.
Winning: You win the round (shoot par) by successfully clearing all 35 cards from the Tableau before the Stockpile runs out.