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Card Golf mirrors the game of golf to a tee. The rules, the golf clubs and even the world’s top golf courses have been condensed into this fun, easy to play and addicting card game. It’s golf in a box. So if you or someone you know is into golf, or if you want to teach someone about the game, then Card Golf is perfect for you.

Card Golf

Ever get tired of playing poker, rummy, go-fish, or any other card games you might play? Card Golf just might be the game for you, especially if you’re a golfer or interested in learning how to golf.

The deck for Card Golf consists of 51 cards ranging from 1 yard putters up through 250 yard drivers. It also comes with a rule/instruction card and two sample score cards to get you started. A single Card Golf deck is designed to be played by 2 people and it does the job pretty well.

The basics of the game is that you want to add up the yardages on your cards to be more than the length of the hole. If your cards add up exactly to the yardage you aren’t given any penalty strokes, 1-5 yards over and you get one penalty, and then it goes up from there until a maximum of 4 penalty strokes.

Last night I sat down and played two hands using the scorecard for Pebble Beach. For the first couple of holes I made the mistake of thinking about the card game too much like a regular golf hole. I’d hit it long off the tee, make an approach shot, and then try to putt for birdie. This is where the game of Card Golf can mix things up a bit, because there are some real potential chances to make eagles.

The first hand (player) I played was doing quite well making birdie on the first two holes and my second player went par, birdie to start. Then I realized I could try to make it in with two shots each time and if the yardages turned our right, I could even get the exact yardage using two cards. My first hand went on to eagle the next three holes and take a commanding lead. After another birdie, I was 9 under after 6 holes! A triple bogey 6 on the next hole, a par 3, ruined that real quick. While getting three eagles in a row is something I’ll most likely never do, I know what a 6 feels like on a short hole!

I kept playing along with both of my players and my first player cruised along by only giving up the tee on 4 holes out of 18 to the second hand I was playing. The scores for the front nine were 29 and 35 and then 31 and 32 on the back for 18 hole scores of 60 and 67, which are -12 and -5. Not bad!

Card Golf is a game anyone can learn and it doesn’t take long to play. While it doesn’t quite equate to real golf in a lot of aspects, you can learn a few things. One of the things I didn’t like was the lack of using a putter. The putter is the most frequently used club in every one’s golf bag (when playing real golf) and there wasn’t a requirement to use it in this game. In fact, there was a time when one of my players didn’t have a putter card in the hand for 3 holes, so I couldn’t have used one if I wanted to.

Overall I was really pleased with the game. The deck is well designed and should hold up for many 18 hole rounds of play. Card Golf would make a great gift for any golfer who is trying to get through the winter months.

I’ve caught a glimpse here are there for a few minutes as I was flipping through channels, but never stayed tuned in. I love playing golf and I love watching pro tournaments on TV. There’s just something about watching wanna-be pros fighting for a spot on one of the tours that turns me off. It would have to be really good TV to get me interested.

So, if you’re a BB fan convince me…

After a few holes the sun came out a little bit and I took off my jacket. I ended up shooting a 46 on the front and saved a 51 on the back after taking a 10 on hole number ten. I sunk a few long putts and chipped in from the fringe to save on a par 3. My putting stroke felt great and I was striking the ball pretty well for my first time on the course. Hell, I was just happy to be on a course!

After golf we took off further south towards Columbus, IN where one of the guys had a son living. For over 2 hours we were following the craziest storm I’ve ever seen. The lightning was non-stop in the sky the entire time. Turns out we just missed all the bad weather and were just a little bit behind it. Some F2 tornadoes went through and we saw a semi that had been flipped by the wind.

On Saturday we hit at Otter Creek Golf Club, which is just a few miles outside of Columbus. I couldn’t believe how green the course was for it only being April 1st. Did they use some kind of green dye for an April Fools joke? The course was extremely wet and a cart path only rule was in effect for the carts. The storms dumped a lot of rain on the area, but the greens were still surprisingly fast. I guess that’s what you get when you play a Robert Trent Jones course. I thought the price of $50 was a bit steep for a twilight rate so early in the season, but now I can say I played a RTJ course. My putter still felt awesome and I ended up shooting 48-48. On the back I started out horrible again with a 9 and 8 on the tenth and eleventh holes. Ended up with two birdies on the day and was hitting some great shots into the greens. The weather was a bit chilly, but playable.

On Sunday we took off north and found a course called Valle Vista in Greenwood, IN. It was under $30 and the course was again in great shape, except for the fact it was soaked from the weather. As we walked onto the 8th tee we saw some large lightning and got the hell out of dodge. I was on pace for a mid to high 40s round and was finally going to beat my dad on the weekend. Oh well…there’s always next time.

We ended up driving all the way home that night because the weather for Monday wasn’t supposed to be good at all. It was a fun trip and something I’d definitely think about doing to start off the golf season each year.

The photo was taken with my RAZR camera phone and shows how packed the place was. They place probably has 30 hitting mats and every single one was full with another 5-10 people waiting for a spot. The golf center has a nice setup with big heaters over the top of the hitting areas, which helps a bit, but not as much as you’d expect.

Yesterday when I hit I didn’t work on anything specific. I just wanted to get in some swings and enjoy it. Today I only took two clubs with me though and worked on some little things in my swing. I took the weighted club that I bought and also took my 7 iron. I love the heavy club, but I’m pretty sore from using it so much this weekend. My shoulders and upper back got a pretty good workout. While hitting today I worked on a shorter back swing, tempo, and not pulling out with my left shoulder. I hit the ball pretty good for it being on the second time of the year.

My main goal for this year is to shorten my golf swing. During lessons last year I saw my swing for the first time. To say that I have a huge swing is an understatement. A guy’s body shouldn’t be able to twist and bend that far back. It brings all kinds of other problems into my swing and really makes golfing inconsistent for me.

I’ve changed my eating and workout habits over the last 6 weeks so I’m looking for improvements in my golf game there as well.

The PGA Tour gets back into the swing of things in late January and early February, which means we have golf on TV again. There’s something about seeing the pros smoke long drives and sink putts that gets the juices flowing again. The Hooked on Golf Blog is running a fantasy golf league with some great prizes donated by sponsors so this has helped to give me a bit of the itch as well.

I haven’t even touched a golf club since that last round in September, unless you count the club I have sitting at the desk in my office. A new golf center just opened in the area and it has a heated outdoor driving range, so I’m pretty excited to give it a try. My goal is to have the rust knocked off my game for the start of the Michigan golf season by hitting a bucket of golf balls every week or two.