Golf card game

Finish nine holes with a lower total than the computer. Each hole adds the value of your six-card grid, with matching vertical pairs canceled to zero. Equal totals after nine holes produce a tied match.

Each hole uses one standard 52-card deck without jokers. The game deals six face-down cards to each player in two rows of three. Your grid is below the center piles and the computer’s is above. Choose two of your cards to reveal; the computer’s first two positions are already face-up.

The middle has a face-down stock of 39 cards, a face-up discard starting with one card, and a space for the card currently being considered. Your drawn card is visible to you; the computer’s held draw is hidden. You take the first turn on odd-numbered holes and the computer starts on even-numbered holes.

Drawing and swapping

At the start of your turn, take the top discard or draw from the stock. Replace any one card in your grid, face-up or face-down, with that card. The replacement stays face-up and the old card goes face-up onto the discard pile. Your grid always has six positions; cards do not move between its positions.

Rejecting a stock draw

You may discard a card drawn from the stock instead of using it. In this version you must then reveal one of your remaining face-down cards to finish the turn. If no hidden card remains, the turn ends without a reveal. A card taken from the discard must be used in a swap; you cannot reject it.

The final turn

When one player ends a turn with all six grid cards face-up, the other player gets exactly one final turn. Then every remaining hidden card is revealed and both grids are scored. There is no knocking action or extra penalty for the player who ends the hole.

Only the top stock or discard card can be drawn, and only one is held at a time. If you draw from an empty stock, the game shuffles the older discards into a new stock while leaving the most recent discard in place. Recycling has no fixed limit. Use Next hole after scoring for a fresh deal; Restart match begins again at hole one.

Card values

Aces count 1; 2s count −2; 3 through 10 count their face value; Jacks and Queens count 10; Kings count 0. Suits do not affect scoring.

Canceling a column

Two cards of equal rank in the same vertical column score 0 together. An 8 over another 8 is 0; an 8 over a 3 is 11. A Jack and Queen do not cancel even though both are worth 10. A pair of 2s also becomes 0, rather than −4. Horizontal or diagonal matches have no effect.

Hole and match results

Add the three column scores to get the hole score; negative scores are possible. The scorecard keeps each hole and the running totals. Lowest total after nine wins, and an equal total is recorded as a draw. There is no sudden-death hole.

New game or Restart match after any accepted action in an unfinished match records that attempt as a loss. A completed match records its result once. Your match, scorecard, timer, Undo history, and statistics save in this browser when storage is available. Return and press Play to continue without adding time for your absence.

• Choose cards: click or tap the stock, discard, or one of your grid cards when prompted. Use Tab to focus enabled buttons and Enter or Space to activate them; these are button controls rather than drag moves.
• Discard draw: appears after a stock draw. Select it, then select a face-down card to reveal if any remain.
• Undo: returns to before your last accepted action, also reversing any computer actions that followed. It can go back across a hole boundary until the match finishes. It does not rewind the timer or reduce the recorded count of actions you have taken.
• Restart match: repeats the same sequence of starting deals from hole one and clears the scorecard. New game chooses a new sequence. Both reset elapsed time. Pending computer actions are canceled when you restart or undo.
• Pause: stops play and the timer until Resume. Open Scorecard to inspect completed holes and totals; the final score remains visible at the end.

• Use a visible discard to cancel an expensive vertical column when possible. A matching Queen can remove more points than a low card in another column.
• Compare the whole column before replacing a card. Breaking a zero-point pair can increase your score even when the replacement is individually low.
• Keep 2s in different columns when practical. Each is worth −2, while pairing them cancels their combined negative value to zero.
• Check the computer’s visible cards before revealing your last hidden card. Closing the hole gives the opponent one final improvement, so a small current lead may not last.

Golf is a draw-and-discard game whose low-score goal and sequence of holes borrow from the sport. Six-card, four-card, and nine-card versions use different layouts and ending rules. Read more on Wikipedia.

For the solo seven-column game, play Golf Solitaire. Hearts offers a different low-score match against three computer opponents.