Learn Golf Solitaire: the 7×5 tableau, ±1 rank play, Easy / Medium / Hard Ace and King rules, remaining-card scoring, and 9-hole rounds.
How to Play Golf Solitaire
Golf Solitaire is a fast, open-information game built on one rule: play a card exactly one rank higher or lower than the waste. Simple to learn. The real decisions are which exposed card to take, when to keep a run alive, and when a stock draw is worth burning a limited resource.
On Solitaire Arcade you can play Easy, Medium, or Hard, as a single hole or a full nine-hole round. Layout and scoring stay the same; Ace and King connections are what change. Ready to start? Play Golf Solitaire.
What Golf Solitaire actually is
One 52-card deck: 35 face-up cards in seven columns of five, 17 in the stock, and an empty waste at the deal. Clear the tableau by chaining exposed cards onto the waste one rank at a time, following the Ace and King rules of your mode.
Each deal is a hole of golf. Fewer strokes win. Golf shares some rank-chaining feel with Tri Peaks Solitaire, but the board is a grid of columns and every tableau card is visible from the start. For a clearer comparison, see Golf Solitaire vs Tri Peaks: What's the Difference?.
Setup and which cards are available
Seven columns, five cards each, all face-up. Face-up does not mean free: only the exposed end card of each non-empty column can play. Remove it and the next card in that column becomes live.
Seventeen stock cards sit face-down. Draw one to start the waste (16 left). Empty columns stay empty. Unlike FreeCell or Klondike, you cannot park anything in a cleared lane.
Legal moves and rank runs
Once the waste has a card, play any exposed tableau card that is exactly one rank higher or lower. Waste shows 7: exposed 6 or 8. Suits and colours never matter. The card you play becomes the new waste, and you can reverse direction when ranks allow (7 to 8 to 7 to 6 is fine if each card is exposed when played).
You cannot move cards between columns, build tableau stacks, or use empty columns as holds. The question is rarely "is this legal?" It is "which legal card leaves me in a better spot?"
Stock and waste
Draw from the stock to begin, then drawing is optional. You may draw even when a tableau move exists; the new waste card starts a fresh chance at a run. There are no redeals. Once stock cards are gone, they are gone. Only the current top waste card sets what can play.
An empty stock does not end the hole by itself. If a legal tableau card still matches the final waste card, keep going. That matters in close finishes.
Easy, Medium and Hard rules
Same layout, stock, scoring, and ±1 rank rule. The difference is how Aces and Kings connect.
Easy
Full Ace-King wrapping. Aces meet 2s and Kings; Kings meet Queens and Aces. Runs can cross the top and bottom of the rank order, so Queen to King to Ace to 2 is legal.
Medium
No Ace-King wrap. Aces meet only 2s; Kings meet only Queens. You can still bounce through Queen and King (Jack to Queen to King to Queen is fine). King to Ace is not.
Hard
No wrap, and a King ends the run. Queen to King is legal; Queen to King to Queen is not. Once King is the waste, no tableau card can follow it. Aces do not end runs: Ace still meets 2, so 3 to 2 to Ace to 2 works in all three modes.
For every Ace and King transition spelled out, see Golf Solitaire Ace and King Rules: Easy, Medium and Hard Explained.
Playing a hole, step by step
Choose Easy, Medium, or Hard, then 1 Hole or 9 Holes. Draw one stock card to start the waste. Scan the seven exposed tableau cards and play any that sit one rank up or down under your mode rules. Keep chaining (and reversing) while useful moves remain. When you cannot continue, or a draw looks better, flip the next stock card. Stop when the tableau is clear or when no moves remain and the stock is empty. In a nine-hole round, the next hole is a fresh deal.
Winning, stalemates, and round results
Clear a hole by removing all 35 tableau cards. The stock does not need to be empty. If tableau cards remain, the stock is empty, and nothing legal can play, the hole is stuck. Drawing the last stock card is not an automatic loss if a legal follow-up still exists.
In a one-hole game, clearing the tableau is a win; failing to clear is a loss. A nine-hole round is different: finish all nine holes with the lowest total score you can. Completing the round counts even if some individual holes were not cleared. Clearing a hole and completing a nine-hole round are not the same thing.
Scoring, 1 Hole and 9 Holes
Stroke-style scoring: lower is better. Fail to clear and each leftover tableau card is +1 (two left means +2). Clear the tableau and unused stock cards improve the score (six unused means -6). Clear with an empty stock and you score 0. Negatives are good.
1 Hole is just that hole's result. 9 Holes adds all nine scores. A round can mix positive and negative holes; the total is what counts. The site tracks 1 Hole and 9 Holes separately so a hot single hole is not compared with a full round.
Controls on Solitaire Arcade
Tap an exposed legal card onto the waste, or tap the stock to draw. Undo reverses recent tableau moves and draws while play is active. In a nine-hole round you can return from an intermediate result before committing; once you choose Next Hole, that hole is locked and its Undo history clears.
Hint suggests an action and why it may help (it does not play for you, and it is not a guarantee). Pause, New, and End work as usual. In nine-hole play, the Score Card shows the round as you go.
Strategy that actually helps
The first legal card is not always the best. Look at what each candidate exposes next: one play opens a continuation, another leaves you stranded. Do not auto-draw. Stock cards are limited and never come back. Mode matters too: a line that wraps in Easy can die in Medium or Hard.
For deeper decision-making, see Golf Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Games.
Mistakes that stall a hole
Playing a card only because it is legal can close a better sequence. Treating every face-up card as playable forgets that only column ends move. Forgetting your mode mixes Easy wrap with Hard terminal Kings. Expecting empty columns to hold cards (they cannot). Drawing too quickly when exposed cards still work. Assuming an empty stock ends the hole when a legal follow-up remains. Waiting for a redeal that never comes: one stock pass per hole.
Golf Solitaire FAQ
Do suits matter in Golf Solitaire?
No. Only rank matters.
Can you change direction during a run?
Yes. One rank up or down each play. Example: 5 to 6 to 5 to 4, if each card is exposed.
Can you draw from the stock when a legal move is available?
Yes, while stock remains. Whether you should is a strategy call.
Can an Ace be played on a King?
Only in Easy (Ace-King wrapping). Medium and Hard do not.
Can a Queen be played on a King?
Yes in Easy and Medium. No in Hard, where a King ends the run.
Can a King be played on a Queen?
Yes in all three modes. In Hard that King is terminal.
Does an Ace end the run in Hard?
No. An Ace can still be followed by a 2.
Is there a redeal?
No. One stock pass per hole.
What happens when the stock is empty?
Keep playing any legal exposed cards from the final waste card. Stuck only means tableau cards remain and nothing legal can play.
Can you get a negative score?
Yes. Clear with unused stock and those cards pull the score below zero. Lower is better.
What is the difference between 1 Hole and 9 Holes?
1 Hole ends after one deal. 9 Holes plays nine deals and adds the scores. Completing all nine records the round even if some holes were not cleared.
Play Golf Solitaire
Golf rewards short-term pattern reading, stock discipline, and knowing when a legal move is actually useful. Pick Easy for full Ace-King wrapping, Medium for no wrap with Queen still able to follow King, or Hard if you want Kings to stop runs cold. Then choose a quick single hole or a full nine-hole round.
Play Golf Solitaire, or explore our other guides: How to Play Solitaire, How to Play FreeCell, and How to Play Tri Peaks.
