Home / Solitaire / Golf solitaire
Golf solitaire
One higher or one lower: clear all seven columns
Looking for the 6-card Golf card game for 2 to 4 players? Play it here.
No more moves
Settings
How to play, in one minute
Tap the last card of any column if it's one higher or one lower than the card on the waste pile, in any suit. It becomes the new waste card, so keep going as long as you can: 6, 7, 8, 7, 6. Clear all 7 columns to win.
- All the cards are face up. 7 columns of 5, and you can only play the last card of each.
- Nothing goes on a king, and kings and aces don't connect. On a queen you can play a jack or a king, but a king on the waste pile can only be covered from the stock. Turn on "Kings and aces connect" in Settings for the easier version.
- Nothing fits? Tap the stock to turn up a new waste card. There are 16 more after the first, and you go through them once.
- Score: like golf, lower is better. Each card left in the columns counts 1. Clear them all and each card left in the stock counts minus 1.
- Undo goes back as far as you like, and you get 6 hints a game.
The full rules are in our Golf solitaire rules, and our Golf solitaire strategy tips explain how to pick between two cards that both fit. If you like this game, TriPeaks plays the same way with three peaks of cards.
How often can you win?
With the standard rules, not often. Our solver, which sees every card, searched all 1,000 deals in our test to the end. It cleared 277 (27.7%), and the other 723 can't be cleared at all. Letting kings and aces connect changes everything: on the same deals the solver cleared 928 (92.8%).
Playing it yourself is harder, because you can't see the stock. A simple player that sees what you see and always starts the longest run it can find cleared 13 of the 1,000 deals with the standard rules and 221 with kings and aces connecting. Its average score was 8.61 and 2.37.
Our own test, October 2026, on the same numbered deals for every run.
Questions
Is Golf solitaire free to play here?
Yes. No account, no download and no limit on games. If ads ever appear, they'll stay off the table.
Is this the same as the Golf card game?
No. Golf solitaire is a one-player game where you clear cards from seven columns. The 6-card Golf card game is a different game for 2 to 4 players, where each player has six cards and tries to get the lowest total over nine holes. Both are on this site.
Can every deal be won?
With "Winnable deals only" on (the default), yes: every deal is one our solver has cleared, for the rules you've picked. You can't see the stock, so you can still get stuck. Undo lets you try another order.
Why can't I play on a king?
That's the standard rule in Wikipedia's description of Golf: nothing goes on a king, and there's no wrapping from king to ace. If you'd rather let them connect (Wikipedia calls that version Putt Putt, and BVS Solitaire plays Golf that way), turn on "Kings and aces connect" in Settings.
How does scoring work?
It's Wikipedia's golf scoring. When the game ends, each card still in the columns counts 1 point. If you clear the columns, each card still in the stock counts minus 1, so a win scores 0 or less. Lower is better. Wikipedia says a full game is nine deals, called holes, and 45 or less over nine holes is par.
What does the run counter show?
How many cards you've played in a row since you last turned the stock, and your longest run this game. It doesn't change your score; it's there for fun, as in our TriPeaks.
What is today's deal?
One deal a day, the same for everyone with the same setting, always one our solver has cleared. Win it to start a streak.
Keep playing
- Klondike solitaireThe classic: seven columns, turn one or three, with undo and a daily deal.
- FreeCellEvery card face up and four free cells. Play any numbered deal.
- Spider solitaireTwo decks, ten columns, one, two or four suits.
- TriPeaksClear three peaks one card higher or lower. Build long runs for points.
- Pyramid solitairePair cards that add up to 13 and take the pyramid apart.
- Scorpion solitaireBuild each suit from king to ace, moving whole piles at once.
- Yukon solitaireKlondike without a stock: move any face-up card with everything on it.
- Solitaire rulesThe rules of all eight games, with a section for each.
- Solitaire strategyTips for each game, with win rates from our own solvers.
- Odds of winning solitaireHow many deals of each game can be won, from over 40,000 solver runs.
- Spite and MaliceA two-player race built from solitaire-style stacks, against the computer or a friend.
- Kings in the CornerBuild down in red and black around the table, for 2 to 4 players.