What is the Golf card game?
Golf is a card game for two to four players. Each player keeps a grid of six cards and tries to finish every deal, called a hole, with the lowest score. You swap in cards from the stock or the discard pile, and two cards of the same rank in one column cancel to zero. Nine holes make a game.
You can play it free right here against one to three computer players. This page teaches the six-card game our table plays, and the variants section lists the four-, eight- and nine-card versions and the common house rules we leave out.
Looking for Golf Solitaire? That's a different, one-player game: play Golf Solitaire here.
| Players | 2 to 4. Our table opens with two: you and one computer player |
|---|---|
| Deck | One 52-card deck, no jokers |
| Cards | 6 each, face down in two rows of three; you turn two face up |
| Goal | The lowest total score after nine deals, called holes |
| Card values | Ace 1, 2 is minus 2, 3 to 10 face value, Jack and Queen 10, King 0 |
| Pairs | Two cards of the same rank in one column score 0, a pair of 2s included |
| End of a hole | When one player has all six cards face up, everyone else gets one more turn |
How to play the Golf card game
A hole of Golf takes six steps, and steps 3 and 4 go round the table until one player has turned up all six cards.
- Deal six cards each. Shuffle one 52-card deck and deal 6 cards face down to each player. Each player lays them out in two rows of three without looking at them.
- Start the discard pile and turn up two. Put the rest of the deck face down as the stock and turn its top card face up to start the discard pile. Every player then turns any two of their own cards face up.
- Draw a card. Starting with the player on the dealer's left, take the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile.
- Swap it in or throw it away. Put the card in place of any one of your six cards, face up, and lay the card you replaced face up on the discard pile. A stock card you don't want can go straight onto the discard pile instead, and then you turn one of your face-down cards face up. A card taken from the discard pile must be swapped in.
- End the hole. When a player has all six cards face up, every other player takes one more turn. Then everyone turns up their face-down cards and scores their layout.
- Play nine holes. Deal again, with the first turn passing to the next player. After nine holes the player with the lowest total wins.
| Players | Cards dealt | Discard pile | Stock | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 12 | 1 | 39 | 52 |
| 3 | 18 | 1 | 33 | 52 |
| 4 | 24 | 1 | 27 | 52 |
Our table opens with two players, you and one computer player, and the Players menu above the cards changes it to three or four. You play first in the first hole, Player 2 in the second, and so on round the table. If the stock ever runs out, the discard pile, apart from its top card, is shuffled into a new stock.
An example turn
Take the deal in the diagram. The Queen of spades is on the discard pile, and your Queen of hearts is face up in the top left. Take the Queen of spades and swap it for the face-down card under your Queen of hearts. The two Queens cancel, so that column scores 0. The card you replaced goes face up on the discard pile; in this deal it is the Ace of clubs, so the column would otherwise have cost you 11.
Stock or discard pile
The top discard is face up, so you know what you're getting. The catch is that you must keep it: a card taken from the discard pile has to replace one of your six. A stock card is a gamble, and if it doesn't help you can throw it straight away and turn up one of your face-down cards instead. Either way your turn ends with one new card in your layout face up, or one old card turned up.
Golf card game scoring
Low is good. Each column of your layout scores on its own, and your score for the hole is the three columns added up. Kings are free, 2s take points away, and a matching pair in one column scores nothing at all.
King0
Two-2 each
Ace1
3 to 10Face value
Jack and Queen10 each
Matching pair in one column0 for the column
These are finished layouts, top row first, with each column scored as the top card plus the bottom card:
| Top row | Bottom row | Columns | Hole score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7, Ace, King | Queen, 3, 5 | 17, 4, 5 | 26 |
| Queen, Jack, King | Queen, Jack, King | 0, 0, 0 | 0 |
| 9, 2, King | 9, 2, 5 | 0, 0, 5 | 5 |
| 9, 2, 2 | 9, King, 5 | 0, -2, 3 | 1 |
| 2, 2, King | Ace, King, 2 | -1, -2, -2 | -5 |
The third and fourth layouts use the same six cards. With both 2s in the middle column they cancel to 0 and the hole scores 5. Split between two columns, each keeps its minus 2 and the hole scores 1. The standard rules say a pair of 2s scores 0 like any other pair, and so does our game.
Ending a hole and winning the game
A hole ends when one player turns up their sixth card, either by swapping into their last face-down spot or by throwing away a stock card and turning it up. Every other player then takes exactly one more turn, all the face-down cards are turned up, and each layout is scored. Going out first earns no bonus in our game. It only stops you playing, and it gives everyone else one more chance to improve.
Scores add up over nine holes and the lowest total wins. Players who tie for the lowest total share the win. At the end of each hole our table turns every card face up, marks the pairs, and shows each column's score, and the Scorecard button keeps every hole of the game.
Golf card game strategy
Our computer players follow these rules of thumb, and they make a sound starting point for your own game.
- Turn up your first two cards in different columns. Two known columns give you two chances to pair a card from the discard pile. We played 1,000 two-player games between two copies of our computer player. The one that turned up a card in each of two columns averaged 8.2 points a hole; the one that turned up a whole column averaged 9.1.
- Chase pairs before low cards. A Queen over a Jack costs 20. A second Queen in place of the Jack makes that column 0, while an Ace in place of the Queen only brings it down to 11.
- Take the discard when it helps right away: a King, an Ace or a 2, a card that pairs one of your face-up cards, or a low card that can replace a high one. Otherwise draw from the stock, since a stock card you don't want can still be thrown away.
- Count every face-down card as about 5.5 points. The 52 cards add up to 284 points, 5.46 a card, so a 4 swapped into a face-down spot gains about a point and a half on average, and an 8 costs about two and a half.
- Go out only when you are ahead. Once your sixth card is up, everyone else gets a turn to improve and you don't. Our computer players add up every face-up card on the table before they finish. When they're behind, they keep one card face down and swap into a face-up spot instead.
- Watch what you throw away. The card you discard is the next player's to take, so avoid throwing one that pairs a card they have face up.
Common Golf variants (not what we play)
The rules above are the six-card game our table plays. These versions and house rules turn up at other tables, and none of them is part of our game:
| Variant | How it differs |
|---|---|
| Four-card Golf | Four cards in a square, and at the start you look at two of them. Instead of drawing, a player may knock; everyone else then gets one more turn. Cabo and Cambio are four-card versions with special power cards. |
| Eight-card Golf | Eight cards in two rows of four. A matching pair in a column still scores 0. |
| Nine-card Golf | Nine cards in a square of three by three, with three turned up at the start. A column scores 0 only when all three of its cards match. |
| Jokers | Two jokers go into the deck, worth minus 2 or minus 5 depending on the table. In the version with jokers at minus 2, 2s count plus 2. |
| No flip after a discard | You may throw away a stock card without turning anything up. Our game always has you turn up a card. |
| No last turns | The hole ends the moment one player has all six cards face up, and nobody else plays again. |
| 18 holes | A longer game played over 18 deals instead of nine. |
| Five or more players | Tables with more than four players shuffle a second deck in. Our game seats two to four with one deck. |
Other names for Golf
Golf also goes by Polish Polka and Polish Poker. Some players call the four-card game Turtle, the six-card game Hara Kiri, and the nine-card game Crazy Nines. None of them has anything to do with Golf Solitaire, a one-player game that shares only the name.
Golf card game FAQ
How do you play the golf card game?
Deal six cards face down to each player in two rows of three, and each player turns two of them up. On your turn, draw from the stock or the discard pile and swap the card into your layout, or throw a stock card away and turn one of yours up. When someone has all six face up, the others get one last turn, and the lowest total after nine holes wins.
How do you keep score on a golf card?
Give each player a column and each hole a row, and keep a running total. A player's hole score is their three columns added up: Ace 1, 2 is minus 2, 3 to 10 face value, Jack and Queen 10, King 0, and a matching pair in one column 0. After nine holes the lowest total wins. Our game keeps the scorecard for you.
How many decks of cards do I need to play golf?
One 52-card deck is enough for two to four players, the table sizes our game plays. With four players it still leaves 27 cards in the stock after the deal. Groups of more than four shuffle a second deck in so the stock doesn't run short.
What are the basic rules of 4-card golf?
Each player gets four cards face down in a square and may look at two of them once at the start. Turns work as in six-card Golf: draw, then swap or discard. Instead of drawing, a player may knock, and everyone else takes one more turn before the hand is scored. Our game plays the six-card version.
What are the rules of the 9-card golf card game?
Each player lays out nine cards face down in a three-by-three square and turns three of them up. Turns work as in six-card Golf, but a column cancels to 0 only when all three of its cards match. Our game plays the six-card version, where two matching cards in a column are enough.
How to play 8 card golf card game?
Eight-card Golf deals each player eight cards face down in two rows of four. Turns work as in the six-card game, drawing and then swapping or discarding, and two matching cards in one column still score 0. Our game plays the six-card version.
Is the Golf card game the same as Golf Solitaire?
No. The Golf card game is for two or more players, each trying to finish nine holes with the lowest score from a grid of six cards. Golf Solitaire is a one-player game in which you clear seven columns of cards onto one pile by playing cards one rank higher or lower. The two share only the name, and you can play both here.
Play Golf free
Play in your browser against one to three computer players. Every hole is dealt from a seed that's fixed before the first card, which you can check on our provably fair page. Challenge a Friend sends a link that replays the same deals at the same table size.
The Golf daily challenge deals everyone the same nine holes at a two-player table; win the game to post your total. Or browse every card game we host.