Solitaire Golf

Golf Solitaire is a fast-paced card game where the player tries to clear cards from seven tableau columns onto a single waste pile. A card can be placed on the waste if it is one rank higher or lower than the current top card, regardless of suit. The game gets its name from the scoring system: like golf, a lower score is better — the score is the number of cards remaining in the tableau when no more moves are possible.

Rules

1. Tableau: 35 cards are dealt face-up into 7 columns of 5 cards each. All cards are visible and overlapping, but only the top (uncovered) card of each column is available.
2. Stock: The remaining 17 cards form the stock pile.
3. Waste: One card is turned face-up from the stock to start the waste pile.
4. Moving Cards: The top card of any column can be moved to the waste pile if it is exactly one rank higher or lower than the current waste card. Suit does not matter.
5. Rank Wrapping: In some variants, King wraps to Ace (and Ace to King), allowing continuous play. In stricter variants, Kings can only go on Aces and Aces only on Twos.
6. Drawing from Stock: When no tableau card can be placed on the waste, draw the next card from the stock. This becomes the new waste card.
7. Scoring: The score is the number of cards remaining in the tableau when no more moves can be made and the stock is empty. A perfect score is 0 (all cards cleared).
8. Winning: Clear all cards from the tableau.

Strategies

• Build Long Runs: Look for opportunities to chain multiple cards in sequence. A long run of alternating higher-lower plays can clear several cards at once.
• Choose Carefully When Multiple Cards Match: If several tableau cards can be played on the waste, choose the one that opens up the most follow-up moves.
• Free Columns Early: Clearing an entire column removes it from the game, but in Golf it doesn't provide extra benefit (unlike other solitaires). Focus on building runs rather than clearing columns.
• Watch the Stock: Keep mental track of how many stock cards remain. Near the end, each stock draw is precious.
• Avoid Dead Ends: Before playing a card, check if it leads to a dead end (no further plays) when an alternative card might start a longer chain.

Golf Solitaire has been played with physical cards since at least the early 20th century. It appears in several classic compilations of patience games, though its exact origin is unknown. The game is sometimes attributed to British card game tradition, where patience games were a popular pastime in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

The name "Golf" comes from the scoring system — like the sport, the aim is to achieve the lowest score possible. Each card left in the tableau at the end counts as one stroke over par, and a cleared tableau is a "hole in one."

The game's simplicity and quick play time made it a natural fit for digital adaptation. Golf Solitaire has appeared in countless computer and mobile solitaire collections. Its popularity surged on mobile platforms, where games like "Fairway Solitaire" added golf-themed graphics and course progression to the basic Golf Solitaire mechanic, creating a hugely successful casual game franchise.

Golf Solitaire has a relatively low win rate in its strict form — roughly 5-10% of deals are winnable without wrapping (King-Ace connectivity). With wrapping enabled, the win rate increases substantially to around 30-40%, making the game more forgiving while retaining its brisk, satisfying pace.