Golf Solitaire

Overview

Golf Solitaire is built on one idea: keep the sequence going. Thirty-five cards sit face up in seven columns, one card starts the waste, and you clear the tableau by playing any exposed card that is one rank above or below the waste card.

No suits, no colours, no foundations, no face-down cards. Everything is visible from the first move.

Play a 9 onto an 8 and the 9 becomes the new waste card, which may let you play a 10, then a Jack. A good chain removes a surprising number of cards without touching the stock — and that is where the game gets both its name and its difficulty.

The arithmetic that decides the game

The deal splits the deck precisely: 35 cards to the tableau, 1 to start the waste, and 16 left in the stock.

So you have 16 draws to remove 35 cards. Every draw must average more than two tableau cards or you will run out before the board does. That one number explains every piece of strategy below: a chain of five is not just satisfying, it is how you buy back the draws you wasted earlier.

The layout

Seven columns of five cards, all face up. Only the bottom-most remaining card of each column is playable; removing it exposes the one above.

So the question is never simply "can I play this card?" but "what does playing it uncover?"

Goal

Remove all 35 tableau cards before the stock runs out. There are no foundations and no suits to organise — the entire game is rank-based chains.

How to play

A tableau card is playable when its rank is one higher or one lower than the current waste card. Waste shows an 8, you may play a 7 or a 9. Waste shows a Queen, you may play a Jack or a King. Suits are irrelevant.

The card you play becomes the new waste card, so check the board again immediately — one move often unlocks the next.

Aces and Kings do not wrap

The sequence does not loop around the ends. An Ace connects only to a 2. A King connects only to a Queen. You cannot play a King on an Ace or an Ace on a King.

That makes both ranks half as useful as any other card. A 7 has two neighbours; a King has one. An exposed King is either the perfect finish to a descending run or a card that sits there for the rest of the game.

It is also the sharpest difference from TriPeaks, which plays by the same one-rank rule but does wrap — Aces there connect to Kings and 2s alike.

Building long chains

Say the waste is a 6 and both a 5 and a 7 are exposed. Both are legal. If the 5 uncovers a 4 while the 7 uncovers something unusable, take the 5 — it keeps the chain alive.

A run like 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → A clears six cards for zero draws. Against a 16-card stock, that is close to a third of your budget saved in one sequence.

But the longest immediate run is not always right. Sometimes the better move is the one that opens a column holding a rank you will need once the obvious chains are gone.

Stock and waste

When no tableau card is playable, tap the stock to turn the next card to the waste and give yourself a fresh rank to work from.

There is no recycle. One pass through 16 cards, and a card once drawn does not come back. Drawing because a position feels awkward is how deals are lost — if a legal tableau move exists, especially one that leads to another, it is almost always worth taking first.

Strategy and tips

• Look at what each move uncovers, not just what it removes. The best move is usually the one that creates the next move.
• Chains are currency. Every card cleared without a draw is a draw kept for later.
• Do not draw to escape a decision. With 16 cards, a wasted draw is over 6% of your stock.
• Watch the Aces and Kings. One neighbour each — plan to clear them inside a run rather than leaving them stranded.
• Count what is left. If a column is five cards deep and none of them link to what remains, work elsewhere.

Controls and features

• Tap an exposed tableau card that is one rank above or below the waste.
• Tap the stock when nothing is playable.
• Use Undo to try a different sequence, or New Game for a fresh deal.

If you liked Golf

TriPeaks is the closest game here — the same one-rank-either-way rule, but played across three overlapping peaks, and the ranks wrap, so an Ace bridges Kings and 2s. That single difference makes chains far easier to sustain.

Pyramid is the other quick layout game: 28 cards in overlapping rows, cleared by pairing cards that add to 13 rather than by sequence.