Golf Solitaire History: From Card Decks to Digital Screens
Anna | May 8, 2025
Golf Solitaire is one of the oldest and simplest forms of solitaire, but it did not start with that name. It was originally called One Foundation, named because the goal was to play all the cards onto a single pile. The earliest known reference to One Foundation appears in the 1905 book "Games of Patience", written under the pseudonym "Tarbart" and published by Thos. De La Rue & Co. Ltd. The book listed more than 100 different solitaire games, and One Foundation was one of them.
So how did the game’s name change from One Foundation to Golf Solitaire? Over time, players started keeping score by counting the number of cards left in the tableau, like strokes in golf. The goal was to finish with the lowest number possible, so the name Golf started to stick. The first known mention of the name appears in a 1926 book called “Pastimes for Sick Children and Rainy Day Occupations for Those Who Are Well”. It was full of quiet games to pass the time indoors and Golf Solitaire made the cut.
As the game’s name evolved, so did the way it was played. The early rules were strict because once you played a King, the pile was blocked and you couldn’t continue by playing an Ace. This made the game harder to win and often left players stuck. Over time, different versions of the game appeared in books. Some early ones showed all the tableau cards face-up, making it easier to plan your moves. Others used facedown cards to add more challenge. A few even described Golf as a competitive game, though setting up the same layout for more than one player was tricky until computers made it easier.
One of the most important changes came with the introduction of the wraparound rule. This rule lets you play an Ace after a King and a King after an Ace. It likely started as an informal tweak among players before showing up in books and digital versions. Today, it’s standard in most online Golf Solitaire games, including the one on our website. The wraparound rule fixed the biggest frustration from the original game and made it much more winnable. Under the old rules, the win rate was around 45 percent. With the modern version, it’s closer to 95 percent.
The Digital Shift: When Card Games Hit the Screen
Back in the day, shuffling a deck of cards meant something physical but as computers started popping up in homes and offices in the late 1980s and early 1990s, even card games found their way to screens. Developers began turning old favorites into simple digital games and Golf Solitaire was one of them.
The earliest known digital version of Golf Solitaire appeared in “Solitaire Royale”, released in 1987 by Spectrum HoloByte. The collection included eight solitaire games and was available on MS-DOS, Macintosh, Amiga and Apple IIGS. Just a couple of years later, in 1990, software developer Sierra On-Line released “Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 2” which featured 28 different solitaire variants, including Golf.
A major milestone came when Microsoft released the first Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows 3.0 in 1990, designed to provide light, engaging distractions during the workday. The pack included simple but addictive titles like Minesweeper, Tetris, and a variety of digital solitaire games. One of the key contributors was Ken Sykes, a developer who had just joined Microsoft in 1989 after studying math and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.
At the time, Sykes and a few other developers were part of an unofficial group jokingly known as Bogus Software. It wasn’t a real company, just a name someone gave to a shared server where Microsoft devs uploaded little side projects. Most of it was just guys having fun, messing with the Windows API and figuring out how to get things working. Among Sykes’s contributions were two original card games, Golf and Cruel, both of which ended up in the Entertainment Pack and eventually reached millions of users. The original 1989 version of Golf Solitaire even thanked Bogus Software for the card deck it used.
In 1994, Golf Solitaire was chosen for The Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack, a curated collection of the 13 most popular titles from the earlier 4 packs. That helped introduce the game to an even bigger audience and sealed its place as one of the most iconic card games in the early days of Windows.
The Modern Era: Online, Mobile and Still Going Strong
In the 2000s, everything changed. The internet took off, smartphones became common and casual games found a bigger audience. Golf Solitaire came along for the ride. What started as a quiet card game became something you could play almost anywhere.
Today, it’s on websites, in downloadable game packs and in mobile apps for both iOS and Android. The rules are still as simple as they were in the early days but the graphics are sharper, the controls smoother and helpful tools like hint and undo make it easier to play.
Whether you’re on a break or riding the train, Golf Solitaire still works. It’s quick, a little strategic and always satisfying.
