Play Nine
^{Card Game for 2 to 6 players/Ages 8 and up
Match wits and win!}
Each hand is a hole. Each turn is a shot.
Object is to shoot the lowest score. After nine holes, the lowest score wins!

Rules of the Game
Read rules through before starting Play Nine. Be sure to see "Shaving Off Strokes."

Setting the Order of Play
Players select a card, lowest card deals. For ties, reselect until tie is broken. Player seated to the dealer's left starts and play continues to pass clockwise.

Preparing Your Course
Shuffle all cards (108 total). Card stroke values range from 0 (Mulligan) to 12 (Out of Bounds) with eight of each card value. There are also four Hole-in-One cards valued at -5 strokes.

Deal each player eight cards, face down. Keeping cards face down, each player arranges cards into two rows of four cards across, creating an individual playing area.
 
Place remaining cards in a face-down stack in the center. Turn over the top card to form a discard pile.

Teeing Off
All players tee off by turning over any two cards. The tee shot is the only time two cards are turned over.

After teeing off (turning over two cards), the player to the left of dealer starts play. The player may choose to draw the top card from the deck or from the discard pile.

If the player draws the top card from the discard pile:
* Player may use the drawn card to replace either a face up or facedown card
   and discard the replaced card.

After discarding, play passes clockwise to the next player.

Advancing Down the Fairway
Play continues in order with all players drawing, then turning over or replacing a card as they shoot for the lowest score. Have a bad shot? Don't despair. With some strategic thinking and a little luck of the draw, you can turn a wayward shot into a stroke of genius. (See Shaving Off Strokes.)

Players must turn over or replace a card on every turn. A player may replace face up cards repeatedly, as long as one facedown card remains.

Lining Up the Final Putt
When a player has only one facedown card remaining, that player has the option of skipping a turn in order to line up that perfect final putt. To skip a turn, the player draws, then discards without replacing or turning over the last facedown card. Play moves to the next player. A player may skip turns repeatedly, as long as one facedown card remains.

Putting Out
When a player replaces or turns over the last facedown card, showing eight face up cards, play ends for that player. All other players then take one last shot, drawing one last card. After all players have taken their last shot, all remaining facedown cards are turned over and individual scores are counted and posted on the score card.

Tallying Individual Scores
Count strokes according to the face value of each card. (The negative value of the Hole-in-One card removes strokes from the score.) Before counting, be sure to check the position of all cards to determine any point reduction situations. (See Shaving Off Strokes.)

Starting the Next Hole
Cards are shuffled and dealt, by the player to the left of the last dealer, for the next hole. All players tee off. The player to the left of the dealer starts play.

Ending the Game
Play continues for nine holes. After the last hole, scores for all nine holes are tallied and the lowest overall score wins. Ties may be decided by a sudden death playoff.

Shaving Off Strokes
Improve your score by paying close attention to the lie of your cards!   The following configurations will shave strokes off your score: