Golf Card Game Rules: How To Play 4,6,9 Cards, Variants & Scoring

Have you heard about the epic Golf Card game rules? Well, it’s a high-stakes card game that doesn’t let you leave the table for 9 straight rounds of pure fun, thrill, and entertainment. Sounds like a great time, right? If you know how to play the golf card game, game nights will never be the same again!

Golf Cards is simple and easy to learn. With a dash of strategy and a pinch of luck, you can quickly turn the tide from a friendly competition to a hot table – at any moment! All you need is a bunch of card game enthusiasts, a regular playing cards deck, and a thirst for a good time. Ready to learn? Let’s dive in!

How To Play Golf Card Game?

The golf card game strikes a perfect balance between strategy and luck. The idea behind the game is to create card pairs in columns and, eventually, score the lowest. Players are dealt cards, but they are not allowed to see the cards they are dealt.

Players can draw, swap, and return cards to piles. But, there are guidelines for drawing and returning that we will explain later in this article. Just like golf, the way to win in the golf card game is to have the lowest point. You need to watch out for the face-down cards that might get in the way of that! Let’s learn about this game in a little more detail. 

Objective

The objective here is to win, and in order to do so, players need to play strategically so that their score is the lowest at the end of nine rounds. So, how do you win by following the rules of the Golf Card game? Let us explain.

Golf Card Game Rules

What is a game without rules, right? We couldn’t agree more! In this section of the article, we will explain the different Golf Card Game Rules to help you understand them better. While following the official rules is essential, you can introduce house rules to make them more personal. 

Basic Rules

First, let’s talk about the Golf Card Game’s general rules and the gameplay. Here are the golf card game rules that you need to know;

1. A dealer is appointed in unison and then deals out the cards to the players (4 cards, 6 cards, 9 cards, etc.).
2. Each player gets either 4, 6, or 9 cards face down, and they are not allowed to look at them.
3. After dealing out the cards, the dealer flips the top card from the pile to start the Discard Pile.
4. Then, each player is to make a grid with those face-down cards (a 2X2 grid for a 4-card game, a 2X3 grid for a 6-card game, and a 3X3 grid for a 9-card game).
5. To the dealer’s left, the player starts the game by flipping any two cards over to reveal their face.
6. Then, that player has to draw a card from the face-down pile.
7. After picking up the card from the face-down pile, the player can either replace any of the cards in their own grid (face-down or face-revealed cards) or choose to discard it by putting it face-up onto the discard pile. This completes the first player’s turn, and the next player gets his turn (clockwise).
8. Alternatively, players can also pick up a card from the discard pile (face-up cards). However, if they pick a card from that pile, they cannot put it back into the discard pile – they have to replace one of the cards from their grid.
9. The game proceeds this way until one or more players have all their cards in the grid with their faces up (revealed). This marks the end of one round of the game. 
10. After this, every remaining player gets one additional turn to finish the game. They can draw one card from either the discard pile or the face-down pile to replace or discard a card. After that, they have to reveal all of their cards. Then, they are to count the score.
11. All players must note their scores at the end of each round. The total aggregate for nine rounds (or sometimes 18 rounds) will be used to determine the winner. 
12. When the face-down pile is exhausted, the dealer or the players can shuffle the discard pile (face down) and start a new face-down pile.

These are the General Golf Card Game Rules. However, there are three different variants of the game that you can play, and each has slightly different rules. Let’s find out what they are.

4-Card Rules

Mentioned below are the 4-card golf game rules:

1. Players are to make a 2X2 grid with their cards.
2. Here, players cannot flip their cards. Instead, at the beginning of the round, each player can take just one look at the bottom two cards (closest to the player) and keep them face down without revealing them (this version of the game relies on memory).
3. The first player can then draw a card and follow the game’s general rules. 
4. If they draw from the face-down pile, they can either replace a card from their grid without looking or discard the picked-up card onto the discard pile.
5. If they draw from the face-up pile, they must replace one card on their grid with it.
6. In this version, players have a third option: knocking on the table twice. This signals the end of the player’s turn and basically denotes that the player is happy with the card layout.
7. Once all the players have played their turn, all cards are flipped and revealed to calculate each player’s score at the end of the game.

6-Card Rules

Here are the rules for the 6-card golf game:

1. Players need one deck of cards (with 2 Jokers).
2. Each player is dealt 6 cards, and they must make a 2X3 grid using those cards (face down).
3. The objective here is to have matching cards in a column.
4. The player to the left of the dealer starts by flipping over and revealing any two cards from the grid. 
5. Then, they are to draw a card from the face-down pile or the discard pile. 
6. If they draw from the discard pile, they must replace a card from their grid with that card.
7. If they draw from the face-down pile, they can either replace one of their cards from the grid or discard it by adding it to the pile. 
8. When a face-down card from a player’s grid is selected to be swapped with a drawn card, that card must be added back to the discard pile only.
9. When a player has all their cards face up, a round ends. Then, the remaining players have one last turn to switch one of their cards before revealing all cards to calculate their scores.

9-Card Rules

The 9-card golf game rules are as follows:

1. Players need two decks of cards (with 4 Jokers).
2. Each player is handed 9 cards, and they are to make a 3X3 grid with those cards.
3. Similar to 6-card golf, players aim to have three cards of the same number in one column. 
4. A player can flip over only two cards from their grid during their turn. The player to the left of the dealer starts.
5. Then, they are to draw a card from the face-down pile or the discard pile. 
6. If they draw from the discard pile, they must replace a card from their grid with that card.
7. If they draw from the face-down pile, they can either replace one of their cards from the grid or discard it by adding it to the pile.
8. When a face-down card from a player’s grid is selected to be swapped with a drawn card, that card must be added back to the discard pile only.
9. When a player has all their cards face up, a round ends. Then, the remaining players have one last turn to switch one of their cards before revealing all cards to calculate their scores.
10. One additional scoring rule that the 9-card variation of the game has is that if a player has 4 cards of the same number in a square grid, it’s worth -25 points.

Golf Card Game Scoring

Now, we come to one of the most crucial aspects of the Golf Card Game – scoring. In this section, we will list the values associated with each card for each version of the game (4-card game, 6-card game, and 9-card game). The values are as follows:

4-Card Golf Game Scoring

The value of cards in a 4-card golf game is as follows:

1. Numbered Cards (2-10): Face Value, i.e. card 6 carries a value of 6 points.
2. Aces: 1 point
3. Jacks & Queens: 10 points each
4. Kings: 0 points

6-card Golf Game Scoring

The value of cards in a 6-card golf game is as follows:

1. Numbered Cards (2-10): Face Value
2. Aces: 1 point
3. Jacks & Queens: 10 points each
4. Jokers: -2 points
5. Kings: 0 points
6. Matching Column: 0 points

9-card Golf Game Scoring

The value of cards in a 9-card golf game is as follows:

1. Numbered Cards (2-10): Face Value
2. Aces: 1 point
3. Jacks & Queens: 10 points each
4. Kings: 0 points
5. Matching Column: 0 points
6. Jokers: -2 points
7. 4 cards in a square grid: -25 points

Winning The Game

Like in golf, the way to win in a golf card game is to score the lowest. The player with the lowest score at the end of nine or 18 rounds wins the game.

Variations

Golf Cards is a fascinating game – undeniably so. But is there a way to make it even more interesting? Yes, there is! There are a few variations of this game that you can try once you get the hang of the original one. They are as follows:

4-Card Golf Variations

The different variations of the 4-card golf game have been explained in detail below:

Looking

The different variations you can add in terms of looking are:

1. You can look at any two cards (not the bottom two or the two closest to you).
2. You can look at any one of your cards.
3. You can look at any or all of the 4 cards. However, looking at one card carries a -1 penalty.
4. You can look at the two cards or their replacements as often as you want throughout the game.
5. You can have the two cards to look at whenever you want.
6. You can have all 4 cards in your hands at all times.
7. The two cards that haven’t been seen initially can be replaced only once, while the two revealed cards can be replaced as often as desired.

Turning Cards

The different variations for turning cards (ending the play) are:

1. The new card must be placed face up when replacing a card.
2. A face-up card cannot be replaced.
3. If you draw from the face-down pile and discard that card immediately, you must turn one card face up from your grid layout. To add to that, you cannot replace that card subsequently.

Scoring

The different scoring variations for the 4-card game are as follows:

1. If the layout contains two cards of the same number in a column, then its score is zero.
2. If three cards of the same number are canceled, only two are canceled.
3. If all 4 cards are of the same number, the whole layout is zero.
4. Pairs score 0 if and only if cards are of the same number in a row or a column.
5. In some variations, Queens score higher than 10 (they can be 12, 13, or even 20), and a spade Queen can be worth 40 points. In this variation, the 8-numbered card scores 0.
6. One-eyed Jacks can be considered Wild and can be paired with any card. The score becomes 0 for that pair.
7. Jacks can score 0 like the Kings.
8. However, Jacks can be worth 20 points. In this variation, the next player’s turn is skipped if a Jack is discarded.
9. Two Jokers can be added to the deck, and each Joker is worth -5 points.

There are special scores for “knockers” as well. For example, they are penalized if a knocker knocks but doesn’t have the lowest score at the end of the round. Some rule variations are:

1. A penalty of 10 points is added.
2. The score is doubled, and 5 additional points are added.
3. The knocker’s score becomes equal to the player with the highest score.

However, if the knocker has the lowest score in a round where they knock, then the following can happen:

1. The score is 0 if it’s actually the lowest.
2. The number of players in the game (let’s say 4) is reduced from the knocker’s total score (let’s say if the knocker scored 3, then their score would be 3-4=-1). If it’s not, the score is doubled.

6-Card Golf Variations

The 6-card game also comes with its own set of variations. They are as follows:

Cards

1. Two card decks can be used, irrespective of the number of players.
2. Two Jokers can be included in the game. In this case, 2 numbered cards are worth 0, and Jokers are worth -2.

Turning Up Cards (At The Start)

1. Some play two cards can be turned up from the same column.
2. In the same variant, many play two cards from the same column cannot be turned up.
3. One card from the central column and one from the column on either side of the central column can be turned up simultaneously.
4. After turning up two cards, players can rearrange their face-down cards’ grid layout for strategic advantage.
5. No cards are turned up at the start of the round. Instead, players can look at the row of the cards closest to them. You can replace these cards face down.

Turning Up Cards (During The Play)

1. One card can be turned up, constituting one turn for a player.
2. If you draw a card from the face-down pile but immediately discard it, then you must turn one face-down card from your grid face up. However, if you have only one card with its face down, you can let it be.

Ending Play

1. You can end a round by turning your last face-down card face up.
2. Alternatively, the round comes to an end when you turn your last face-down card face up. After this, each of the remaining players gets one additional turn.

Scoring

1. If four equal cards (cards with the same number) are turned face up in two columns (two equal cards in each column), the player gets -10 points.
2. If more than two decks are used, a player gets -20 points for 6 equal cards (two columns, each column containing three equal cards).
3. If four equal cards are turned up in a square block, the player gets -20 points. For double-deck games, six equal cards turned up in overlapping square blocks equals -40 points.
4. Pairs of equal cards anywhere in the layout equal to 0.
5. If two Jokers are used, then they can be worth -5, -3, -2, or 0 points. In this variation, the 2 numbered cards are worth +2 points. 
6. One-eyed Jacks can be worth 0 points.
7. Two twos or two Jokers in a column equals -4 (-2 for each card). 
8. When playing with 2 decks, 4 Jokers in 2 columns equals -20 points.

Rounds

The total number of rounds can be extended to 18 instead of 9 for both 4-card and 6-card golf games.

Tips & Strategies

1. Remember the values – Understand the rules and scoring system so you can clearly count the score you are accumulating. Knowing how much each card is worth will surely enhance your level of gameplay.
2. Card Swapping – Optimize your card swapping with reason and logic. The idea is to score the lowest, so you should prioritize lower-value cards. Refrain from taking mid-high or high-value cards because it might be difficult to swap them later. Also, swap cards only when you are confident that one or more cards in your layout will be of higher value. This is because you are revealing your cards to your opponents and want to make the best of it.
3. Track Cards – Knowing the deck of cards will help you keep track of what is being played and the possibilities. Also, practice recalling the cards you have taken a peek at. It will allow you to be at least 50% better at the game.
4. Discard Pile – Always keep tabs on the discard pile. What is high for someone else might be a low-value card for you. You might not be the highest-scoring player even if you do not win. Losing a round is okay as long as you win the game.

Did You Know?

1. The only reason the game is named after the sport of Golf is that the only thing common between the two is that winning is about scoring the least.
2. Golf Card Game is a quick-paced game. One game usually ends within 20-30 minutes.
3. Playing the Golf Card game boosts your cognitive skills.
4. The origins of this game are still unknown. However, there is reason to believe that it became popular in the mid-20th century.

FAQs

Conclusion

Although the Golf Card Game has become popular only recently, its adaptability, flexibility, and exciting nature have quickly made it popular among card game enthusiasts. All you need to do is buy yourself a deck (or a couple), gather your friends, and get started. Make sure you remember the cards you flip or take a peek at. And always keep this in mind – only some cards need to be replaced! So now that you know the golf card game rules, keep coming back to Play With Rules to learn about more interesting new games.  

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