Golf Card Game Strategy
Six-Card Golf looks like luck, but the players who count values, watch the discard pile and time the end of the hole win more often than the cards alone would give them. Here is how.
1. Knock out the high cards first
An unknown card is worth just under five and a half points on average (the mean of the thirteen rank values). A face-up jack, queen or ten is a known ten points sitting in your grid, and a nine is not much better, so those are the cards to replace first: anything lower than the card it replaces is a gain. A king (0) or a two (−2) is an improvement on almost anything. Swap into a face-down slot only when the drawn card is clearly better than average — roughly a four or lower — because you are trading a mystery card that might already be a king for a known value, and because every card you turn up brings the end of the hole closer.
2. Hunt column pairs
A pair in a column turns two cards into zero, and it is the cheapest way to neutralise a face card. Once you show a queen, every queen that appears on the discard pile is worth taking: swapping it into the slot beneath your queen drops that column from ten-plus to nothing — a saving of thirteen if the slot held a known three, about fifteen on average if it was still face down. The same goes for any shown card, but the higher the card, the bigger the prize. Keep your twos apart, though: two twos in one column pair for 0 instead of scoring −4. Many players flip their two opening cards in different columns so more of the grid is in play for pairing; flipping a whole column instead tells you its exact value straight away. Opinions differ, and either is reasonable.
3. Use the discard pile — and watch what you feed it
The discard pile is the one card you can see before you commit. Take it when it makes a pair, when it is a king or a two, or when it is low enough to replace a known high card. Otherwise draw from the stock, which gives you the option of throwing a bad card away. Remember that whatever you swap out becomes your opponent's next option: if they are showing an eight, do not throw them the eight that completes their column unless the swap is worth it to you. The Hard computer opponent plays this way against you, so an unpaired card you show is a card it will try not to feed you. Keep a rough count of what has gone by, too: there are only four of each rank, so if three sevens have already been shown or discarded, waiting to pair your seven is close to hopeless. On CardCouch only the top of the discard pile is visible, so this is memory work.
4. Flip with a purpose
Discarding a stock card forces you to flip, and every flip brings the end of the hole closer. Early in a hole that is fine — you need information to plan pairs. Late in a hole, think before you discard: if you are behind, keeping a card face down keeps the hole alive and gives you more turns to catch up. When you must flip, one sensible habit is to choose a slot whose column partner is already known, so you learn the exact value of that column and can see which columns still need help.
5. Close the hole when you are ahead
Turning your last card face up gives your opponent just one more turn, after which their hidden cards are counted as they lie. Compare your total with their visible cards plus roughly five and a half for each card they still have face down. If yours is clearly lower — especially while they still hold two or three unknowns — go out as fast as you can, even by swapping a mediocre card into your last hidden slot. If the totals are close, hold on: one more swap for them could be a pair. And if your grid is the ugly one, do not close at all — swap into face-up slots and keep a card hidden until the picture improves. At tables that double the score of a player who goes out without the lowest total (a house rule CardCouch does not use), be more careful still.
6. Think in nine holes
Golf is a nine-hole game, so one bad hole is not the end, but there is no bonus for winning holes — only the total counts, so a single 30-point hole outweighs several narrow wins. Sitting on a face-up queen for turns in the hope of pairing it costs ten points for as long as it stays; swapping it for a five and moving on is usually the better play. Play for consistent low holes, keep the kings and twos you are dealt, and let the opponent take the gambles.
Practice makes perfect
The Hard computer opponent avoids feeding your pairs and races to close the hole when it is ahead — a good sparring partner for timing your own finish.
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