A 2-4 player card game requiring memory, precision and a stroke of luck.
Before setup, decide on the par of your hole. You can play any par between 3 and 5. For a 9-round game, there are 2× Par 3 holes, 5× Par 4 holes, and 2× Par 5 holes. Alternatively, for quick, continuous play, you can play "No-Par" which offers quicker rounds and can end after any predetermined number of rounds.
Your goal as a golf player is to finish each hole with the lowest score possible. Scoring is determined based on the pairs of cards you have collected by the end of each hole (round). See the reference scoring table for an explanation of score values.
Deal each player two cards for the number of par strokes for the round. For example, for Par 3, deal a total of 6 cards per player. If playing "No-Par," deal 4 cards per player. The remainder of the deck is placed in the middle (facing down).
Keeping them face down, each player arranges their cards in any order into two equal columns. Players then look at each card in their grid one at a time, returning them face down to their chosen position, before turning over the two cards at the top of their columns. All other cards remain face down, values unknown.
The pairs of cards in the column are a player's "strokes." All of a player's cards are called their "grid." Cards in a player's grid cannot be rearranged once play begins other than through swapping/replacing as described in Gameplay.
Once all players are setup, the dealer turns the top card from the deck over and lays it face up, next to the deck. This is called the "up-card." Play can now begin.
Play starts to the left of the dealer. Each player's goal is to create pairs in their grid scoring the lowest number of points possible. Each turn, a player completes one of the two actions below to build their grid into suitable pairs:
(1) Pick up one card from the center (either the up-card or the card on top of the deck) to swap with one card from their grid. If the player chooses to take the card from the top of the deck, they can look at the card but should not show it to others unless they are swapping it with one of the up-facing cards in their grid. The center card taken is always placed in the same position as the card from the grid it is replacing (i.e. face-up or face-down). The player then returns the card from their grid that they have swapped to the top of the up-card pile (face up), ending their turn.
(2) Swap the position (and visibility) of two cards in their grid, ending their turn. A player taking this action does not interact with the cards in the center.
(Not applicable to "No Par" rounds)
After one full round (starting with the first player's 2nd turn), players may "take a stroke" at the beginning of their turn, before swapping a card with the center. Taking a stroke means a player is committing to keeping one of their strokes (pairs) and denotes this by putting them on top of each other and turning them 90 degrees. The pair of cards making up the stroke can no longer be changed.
If you take a stroke with your face-up pair, turn them face down and complete the rest of the round with all cards in your grid face-down.
Play continues until a player takes their final stroke (i.e. when they stroke their last un-stroked pair), after which each other player has one more turn. The player taking their final stroke does not swap any cards on their last turn, as taking a stroke is done before swapping, and the player cannot swap cards from strokes they have taken.
After the last player has their turn, players turn their cards face-up, keeping them in their stroke-pairs for scoring.
No strokes are taken in "No-Par" rounds. Instead, "No Par" rounds end when a player decides at the start of their turn to end the round. A player deciding to end a "No Par" round takes no further turn. Each other player has one more turn. After the last player has their turn, players turn their cards face-up, keeping them in their stroke-pairs for scoring.
Each stroke-pair in a player's grid will have a scoring result dependent on the two cards. See the Scoring page for details. The sum of all pairs is a player's score for that round.
After the last round, players add together scores from all rounds. The player with the lowest total score is deemed the winner.