Play nine card-golf holes. Lowest score (relative to par) wins the round.
Objective: Play nine "holes." Each hole has a target number. Try to reach that number exactly, in as few swings as possible, using cards drawn from the deck. Your score for each hole is compared to par (3 swings): finishing in fewer swings is a good score (negative), finishing in more is a bad score (positive). After nine holes, your total determines your round.
Five cards are dealt face up. Their total is the target number for the hole (face cards count as 10, Aces count as 1). If you're playing with hazards on, two extra side cards are dealt to place a hazard on the hole.
Each turn, pick a club. Each club draws a different number of cards from the deck, and each has its own rule for how close to the (remaining) target you must stay:
If your cards include a pair, you may draw one extra card for that same swing (Driver, Iron, and Wedge only) — it doesn't cost an extra stroke.
While swinging, face cards and Aces are only worth 1 point each (not 10) — a different scale than the target-setting cards.
If a swing stays within its club's limit, subtract it from the remaining target and keep playing. If it breaks the limit, the swing is wasted (still costs a stroke) and the target stays the same. Reaching exactly zero (or, for Wedge/Putter, going slightly over within their allowance) finishes the hole. Six swings is the most you can take on any hole.
If enabled, a new hazard is dealt from two side cards before every swing: two red cards = 💧 Water, two black cards = 🏖️ Sand, one of each = 🌲 Trees. The hazard has its own number (same 10/1 scale as the target cards), and it only shows up in the Hazard in Play panel — with its cards and total — if that number lands between 1 and 5 of the hole's target total. Otherwise it's dealt but never shown, since it can't affect this swing. When triggered: Water wastes the swing (stroke, no progress); Sand wastes the swing, forces a Wedge on your next swing, and adds one extra penalty stroke on top of the swing itself; and Trees adds 5 points to the hole's target — the swing still counts and still makes progress, but the hole just got a little harder.
| Swings | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eagle | -2 |
| 2 | Birdie | -1 |
| 3 | Par | 0 |
| 4 | Bogey | +1 |
| 5 | Double Bogey | +2 |
| 6 (or unfinished) | Triple Bogey | +3 |
Lowest total after nine holes is the best round.