Keep score in Golf, the nine-hole card game
At the end of each round, you type everyone's points, Twos below zero included: Teamzy adds up the totals and ranks from lowest to highest, hole after hole. While you type, the “How do you count the points?” help reminds you what each card is worth.
Golf in 30 seconds
Golf is a traditional card game, with no publisher and no single official rule, played with a 52-card deck: nothing to do with the sport, nor with the solitaire game of the same name. In its most common version, each player gets six cards face down, laid out in two rows of three, and turns two of them face up. On your turn, you take a card, from the stock or the discard pile, and put it face up in place of one of yours; a card from the stock can also go straight to the discard pile. The goal: as few points as possible in front of you, by keeping the low cards and making pairs in the same column, which are worth nothing. The round ends when one player has all their cards face up. A match usually lasts nine rounds, like the nine holes of a course, and the lowest total wins.
What each card is worth
At the end of the round, everyone turns over their face-down cards and counts their layout, column by column. An Ace is worth 1, a Two −2, cards from 3 to 10 their value, a Jack and a Queen 10, a King 0. Two cards of the same rank in the same column make a pair: the column scores 0, even with two Twos. Then everyone adds their points to their total: in Golf, just like on a course, you want the lowest score.
Points of your layout
| What counts | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| Two | -2 |
| Each card from 3 to 10 | its value |
| Jack, Queen | 10 |
| King | 0 |
| A pair in a column | 0 |
One round worked out, column by column
The last round of the match told below: everyone's six cards at the end, in two rows of three, and the count column by column. A pair in a column cancels it, even a pair of Twos.
| Player | Their six cards | Count by column | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| EmmaTurns over her last card: the round ends |
| 0 + (−1) + 0 | −1 |
| HugoPair of Twos: 0, not −4 |
| 0 + 13 + 4 | 17 |
| LéaPair of Jacks |
| 0 + 11 + 9 | 20 |
| NathanNo pair |
| 20 + 7 + 3 | 30 |
The example's score sheet
The nine rounds of the match told below, with everyone's points as you write them down. Hugo has the lowest total after each of the first eight rounds; in the ninth, Emma scores −1, Hugo 17, and Emma gets ahead by 2 points.
| Round | Emma | Hugo | Léa | Nathan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 5 | 18 | 9 |
| 2 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 21 |
| 3 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 6 |
| 4 | −2 | 9 | 16 | 13 |
| 5 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 19 |
| 6 | 17 | 4 | 12 | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 15 |
| 8 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| After 8 rounds | 69 | 53 (lowest total) | 91 | 95 |
| 9 | −1 | 17 | 20 | 30 |
| Total | 68 (lowest total) | 70 | 111 | 125 |
The score sheet to print
A Golf score sheet in US Letter, two matches per page, for 2 to 6 players and nine rounds, like the nine holes of a course: one box per round and a Total row. The card values are recalled at the bottom, pairs included. Print it for your next match, or let Teamzy keep score.
Download the Golf score sheet (PDF)The last round of a nine-hole match
Emma, Hugo, Léa and Nathan play six-card Golf, over nine rounds. After eight rounds, Hugo has the lowest total, 53 points, ahead of Emma (69), Léa (91) and Nathan (95). In Golf, the lowest wins: Emma has 16 points to make up in one round.
- 1Round 9. Emma already has two Kings in her first column and a Two at the top of the second. She takes the 7 from the discard pile and puts it in place of the face-down card under her other 7: a second pair.
- 2On her next turn, she draws an Ace from the stock and puts it in place of her last face-down card, under her Two. All her cards are face up: the round ends at once, and everyone turns over their face-down cards to count.
- 3Emma: her two Kings make a pair, 0; her Two and her Ace, −2 + 1, that is −1; her two 7s make a pair, 0. She scores −1.
- 4Hugo has two Twos in the same column: a pair, worth 0, when they would have been worth −4 without it. With his 3 and his Queen (13), then his King and his 4 (4), he scores 17. Léa, with her pair of Jacks, scores 20; Nathan, with no pair, 30.
- 5Emma goes from 69 to 68 and Hugo from 53 to 70: that was the ninth round, the match ends, and the lowest total wins.
Emma wins with 68 points, ahead of Hugo (70), Léa (111) and Nathan (125).
In Teamzy, you type everyone's points at the end of the round: −1 for Emma (tap the ± button, then type 1), 17 for Hugo, 20 for Léa and 30 for Nathan. The app adds up the totals and ranks from lowest to highest; a Golf match has no score to reach, so after round 9, tap “End the match”.
The questions that come up at the table
At the end of the round, turn over your face-down cards and count your layout column by column: an Ace is worth 1, a Two −2, cards from 3 to 10 their value, a Jack and a Queen 10, a King 0, and a pair in a column cancels the column. That is the scoring of six-card Golf given by Pagat.com, the reference for card game rules. In the example, Hugo scores 0 + 13 + 4, that is 17 points.
The rules of Golf on Pagat.com0, whatever the cards: two Queens one above the other are worth nothing, instead of 20. Even two Twos make 0, as Bicycle's rules point out: the pair takes away the −4 they were worth apart, as it does for Hugo in the example. Only the column counts: two matching cards side by side, in the same row, each score their value. A pair of Kings changes nothing, since a King is already worth 0.
Six-card Golf rules at BicycleAs soon as one player has all their cards face up: that is the basic rule, the one Pagat.com gives. The round ends at once, everyone turns over their face-down cards, which count like the others, and you score, as in the example. Many tables play a variant: each of the other players has one more turn before counting.
Usually nine, like the nine holes of a golf course; for a longer match, you play 18. Some tables play until one player reaches 100 points instead. In Teamzy, a Golf match has no set end: the app numbers the rounds, and you tap “End the match” after the last one.
The lowest total wins. If two players tie for the lowest, the rules have no tiebreaker, and Teamzy shows a tie. Each table decides: share the win or play one more round.
Teamzy keeps score of a Golf match for 2 to 6 players. With a single 52-card deck, without Jokers, you play up to 4; above that, Pagat.com advises adding a second deck.
There are many, since there is no official rule. In four-card Golf, laid out in a square, you only look at two of your cards at the start, and on your turn you can knock to end the round: each of the others plays one more turn. In nine-card Golf, in three rows of three, only a column of three matching cards is cancelled. Some players also add the two Jokers: in six-card Golf, depending on the table, they are worth −5, −3, −2 or 0, and Twos are then worth +2; in four-card Golf, −5. In other rules, Jacks are worth 0. Teamzy follows six-card Golf: for a variant, type everyone's points as your table counted them, and the app adds up the totals.
The number keyboard has no minus sign: tap the ± button next to the player's box, then type the number. The score turns negative and shows in purple. In the example, Emma scores −1 in the last round: her total goes down by one point.
Your next Golf match, without pen and paper
Type everyone's points at the end of the round, Twos below zero included, let the app add up the totals and rank from lowest to highest over your nine holes, and find your matches in the history. Free to start, Premium as a one-time purchase, no account and no ads.
