Golf is not only about balls and courses. There’s also a fun card game called Golf that you can play with either two or more players. Of course, like most card games, people have managed to create countless variations of the golf card game.
Also known as Hara-Kiri, Polish Polka, Turtle, and Crazy Nines, the Golf card game is very similar to the actual game of Golf in a way. In this card game, the purpose is to keep your points as low as possible. And that too across nine rounds or holes to win the game.
Does this sound interesting? Just stick around, and we will teach you how to play this entertaining card game. Make your next game night with friends and family fun and memorable!
How To Play The Golf Card Game?
In this draw-and-discard game of Golf, all the players will receive a layout with cards facing down. This way, the cards can be easily replaced by the cards drawn from the discard pile or stockpile. The purpose is to make this layout worth as low a score as possible.
At the end of nine or eighteen deals, the score represents the total number of strokes that you will need to play a gold hole. During this time, the player who will have the lowest score will win this game.
The Golf card game has different forms:
- 4-card golf,
- 6-card golf,
- 8-card golf,
- 9-card golf, and
- 10-card golf.
The most popular variations of the game are the 6-card gold and 4-card golf. The major difference between these variations has a lot to do with how the different versions end. Here’s an overview:
- The first way to end gameplay is popularly used in the 4-card game. In this method, if you think you have scored the lowest, you can easily knock in your very next turn instead of just drawing to replace a particular card. This is an action that ends the gameplay after everyone has completed playing their turns.
- The second way to end gameplay is typically used in 6-card games that have bigger layouts where new cards are kept face-up every single time any layout card gets replaced. The game here ends when any player’s whole layout is kept facing up.
Dealing:
If you are playing the Golf card game with 2 or 3 players, you can do so with a normal deck of 52 cards. But if you are playing with four or more players, then you will need a double deck comprising 104 cards.
Once you have shuffled the deck, deal six cards to all the players – the cards must be facing down during dealing.
Keep the cards that are left on the table – ensure these are also facing down. Now, make a stockpile with these cards. The card on the top of the stockpile is kept facing up beside the pile – this is used for forming a discard pile.
Once the cards are dealt, each player will have to arrange their cards in 2 piles comprising 3 cards each in the front and then flip any 2 cards to face up.
Throughout the card game, the players will have to keep their card arrangement the same. Every player will have 6 cards right in front at all times.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in the Golf card game is very simple. The primary purpose is to lower the total score of the cards by just swapping the cards that are kept in front of the players with cards of lesser value from the stockpile. Once 9 rounds come to a close, the player who has the lowest score ends up winning the game, while the player who has the highest score will lose the game.
The gameplay will start with the player who is seated on the dealer’s left. Every player takes individual turns drawing a single card from the discard pile or the stockpile. A player can swap their drawn card with any of the 6 cards that others might have with them or have discarded.
If any player selects to keep a drawn card, then they will have to place it face-up. But if they do discard the just-drawn card, then they can either make no move or flip the card.
The round will end when any players will have all their six cards facing up. At times, when one player manages to get all their six cards facing up, others are also given a shot – like you do in a round of Uno. After this particular step, you can evaluate the scores.
When the rounds are going on, no player can take any card from the discard pile just to return it instead of playing it, thereby allowing someone else to pick that particular card. This shows that once any player picks any card from this pile, they can swap it with any of their original cards.
Scoring:
Here’s how the scoring for the Golf card game works!
- Aces are typically worth a single point each.
- The 2s happen to be worth minus 2 points each.
- Each numeric card from 3 to 10 is usually worth its face value. For example, 8s are around 8 points, 3s are around 3 points, and so on.
- Queens and Jacks are around 10 points each.
- Kings are around 0.
- A couple of equal cards located in the very same column are around 0 points. This is true even if the two cards happen to be 2s.
And It’s A Wrap!
And that’s a wrap on the Golf Card game! Here’s a tip. If you do draw a Joker card or any other card that is worth negative points on its own, just keep it within a column accompanied by a low-scoring or face-down card.
This is because if you do keep it within a column accompanied by a high-scoring card like a Queen, then you will have to miss the opportunity to cancel your player with the high scores.
So, tell us, what are your thoughts on the Golf card game? Feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, and, most importantly, experiences about playing this game in the comments below.
Additional Reading:
Barsha Bhattacharya is a senior content writing executive. As a marketing enthusiast and professional for the past 4 years, writing is new to Barsha. And she is loving every bit of it. Her niches are marketing, lifestyle, wellness, travel and entertainment. Apart from writing, Barsha loves to travel, binge-watch, research conspiracy theories, Instagram and overthink.
