Pocket Pro Golf

Pocket Pro Golf Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components and Setup

Put into the center of the table:

Wind/Slope and Aim Card: Shows the effect that wind and slope will have on each hole. Includes spaces for a player to aim his shot.
Blue Cube: Used to indicate wind/slope.
Leaderboard Card: This card is used to track each player's scores relative to par.
Yardage Card: Quick reference showing effective yardage based on the number of spaces on the hole cards.
Hole Design Reference Card: Used to create custom holes based on any real life golf course.
Skill Token Disks: Use six per player, return the rest to the box.
Three Dice: For determining ball progress.

Each player takes:

A Set of Club Cards: These show the different air and ground movement for each club type. Each player takes one of each driver/putter, 3/5 iron, 7/9 iron, and wedge.
Skill Token Disks: Each player takes two from the supply in the center of the table and places them in the skill token box of any club or clubs. Skill tokens placed on a club represent a player's skill with that club. A player using that club may discard a skill token to affect the movement of the ball.
Playing Pieces: Each player takes four pieces of one color. One piece represents the player's ball. The rest are used to track aim, club choice, and score. Everyone places one piece in the "Even" space on the leaderboard card.
Reference Cards: Shows ball movement based on result of dice. Place one between each pair of players.

Separate the Following

Course cards: Each card has 9 holes. Use two cards make a full round of 18 holes. The course cards show the number of cards used to make each hole and any dogleg bends. At the bottom there is a chart showing the details of each hole (par, yardage, and rating).
Hole cards: These cards feature the various aspects of a golf hole overlaid with grids of circles on which the game is played. The hole cards are in four types: Tees, Fairways, Doglegs, and Greens.

Players decide on a number of holes to play. A course card is selected either at random or one is agreed upon by everyone.

To randomly determine the features of the holes, turn each pile of hole cards (tee, fairway, and greens) face down and shuffle. Players may instead decide the specific layout of features as each hole is created.

Advanced Setup

To play a real life golf course, a score card with hole layout and information from that course is used as a basis for building each hole. The Hole Design Reference card will show the yardage for various orientations of Hole cards.

Players may fine tune the hole layout (hazards and specific yardages) by overlapping hole cards as needed.

Note: In Pocket Pro Golf, all players are scratch golfers, so use the appropriate yardage from a real life course.

Course Card Chart

The bottom of each course card shows the details of each hole. The example chart printed in the booklet reads:

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Par	4	3	5	4	4	4	5	3	4
Yards	360–465	90–225	540–690	255–360	255–360	360–465	480–630	90–225	255–360
Rating	3.7–4.3

Yardage Card

Each space towards the pin counts as 15 effective yards. Every two spaces side to side counts as 15 effective yards.

Spaces	Yardage	Spaces	Yardage	Spaces	Yardage	Spaces	Yardage
3	45	16	240	29	435	42	630
4	60	17	255	30	450	43	645
5	75	18	270	31	465	44	660

Transcriber's note: the printed chart lists 705 for 53 spaces and 720 for 54 spaces. Both break the printed rule of 15 yards per space (which would give 795 and 810). They are transcribed as printed; the card is the reference for those two entries.

Hole Design Reference Card

Yardage based on edge to edge card placement. Cards may be overlapped to reduce yardage. More/harder hazards result in a higher slope rating. Fewer/easier hazards result in a lower slope rating.

Hole type	Par 3	Par 4	Par 4	Par 5
Yards	90–225	255–360	360–465	480–630
Rating	2.4–3.2	3.4–3.9	3.7–4.3	4.6–5.3

Par 3 - Up to 250 yards
Par 4 - 251–470 yards
Par 5 - 471–690 yards
Par 6 - 691 yards or more

Dogleg bends add yardage:

30° Dogleg adds 45 yards
45° Dogleg adds 60 yards
60° Dogleg adds 75 yards
90° Dogleg adds 105 yards

Game Play

Setting Up the Hole

Each hole is set up using the information on either the selected course card or using specs from a real golf course.

Starting with a tee card, fairway cards are added edge to edge (so that the semicircles at the edge of each card line up) to create the proper length hole, followed by the greens card.

If setting up the hole at random, then random cards are chosen from the face down piles.

Note: The greens cards may only be oriented one way. The sections of fairway on either side must be lined up.

For example, a course card is selected that has a four card par 4 for the first hole. A tee card is chosen then two fairway cards and a greens card.

Adding Doglegs

Dogleg cards add a bend to the fairway. To use one, select the appropriate bend and orientation.

If used between a fairway card and the greens card, then align the bottom edge of the dogleg to the bottom of the greens card. Otherwise face the bottom of the dogleg towards the tee.

Then overlap the remaining edge of the dogleg on top of the adjacent fairway card so that the fairway card lines up with the orange line on the dogleg (lining up edge semicircles).

Note: There is no overlap for a 90° dogleg.

Some hazards may be covered up by the dogleg. Use only the visible part as a hazard and ignore the part that is covered.

Determining Wind/Slope

Roll one die and place the blue cube on the appropriate space of the Wind/Slope card. This shows the effect the wind and slope will have for the entire hole.

Place the Wind/Slope card so that it is aligned with the cards that comprise the hole. The long side of the card should be in the same direction as the long axis of the fairway.

Note: If using a dogleg, the Wind/Slope card is aligned to the nearest fairway card between the hole and the current player's ball.

For the sample round, a two is rolled for the wind. The blue cube is placed on the appropriate space and the Wind/Slope card is placed alongside the hole cards for the round.

Playing the Hole

Honors

For the first hole, the honor of being the first to hit the ball from the tee goes to the last player to have played golf. For subsequent holes, honors go to the player with the lowest score (highest on the leaderboard). Ties go to the player who most recently had honors.

After teeing off, the player furthest from the hole takes the next turn.

If multiple markers are equally distant from the hole and stacked on top each other (two or more landed in the same spot), then the player with the marker on top takes the next turn.

Setting Up the Shot

For the tee shot, the active player places a marker representing his ball on the tee (single space in the fairway colored box on the tee card).

Choosing a Club

These aspects of the game, club choice, aim, and swing tempo, represent the core decisions that need to be made during the game. A player must carefully read the course and make the best decisions for each shot.

The active player chooses a club (taking into account the total distance that he would like to achieve) and places a marker in the left most AIR space of that club card. The number of AIR and GROUND spaces indicate how many times the player must roll the dice for his shot. Each roll will result in a forward movement of between one and four spaces.

Swing Tempo

He then decides how hard to hit the ball. The faster the swing, the farther it will go at the expense of accuracy.

For a Slow tempo, roll one die for each space on the club card.
For a Medium tempo, roll two dice.
For a Fast tempo, roll three dice.

A player hitting the ball with a medium or fast tempo will have to consider the likelihood of his shot being affected by wind/slope (the more spaces he has on his club card the more his shot will be affected) and will want to compensate by aiming in the direction opposite the wind.

Aiming the Shot

The active player places a marker in one of the Aim spaces on the Wind/Slope card. Aiming off center (drawing to the left or fading to the right) will cause the ball to curve slightly in that direction as follows:

Aiming one space to the left or right will cause the ball to move one space in that direction during the first movement roll.
Aiming two spaces will cause the ball to move in that direction one space during each of the first two movement rolls.

For the sample round, the red player selects his driver and puts a playing piece on the leftmost space.

To balance distance and control he chooses a moderate swing tempo (two dice).

Since the wind will push the ball to the right, he aims two spaces to the left to compensate.

Lastly he places his final playing piece on the tee space.

Hitting and Moving the Ball

Hitting the Ball

Every time the player hits the ball it counts as one stroke towards his score for the hole.

Movement of the Ball

The current player makes a movement roll (rolls the dice selected for his swing tempo) for each of the AIR and GROUND spaces of the club.

For each movement roll, he looks up the result on a reference card to see how far the ball moves forward (orthogonally towards the hole).

When hitting from a tee, a +1 space bonus is applied to the first movement roll.

When hitting from the rough (anywhere not on the fairway or green), the current player must ignore all movement spaces with an "X" under them (in the row labeled "R"). When hitting from the rough with a wedge, he applies a -1 to the ground movement.

Reference Card

Choose swing rate: Slow, Normal, or Fast. Throw dice for ball progress. Each die result gives the forward movement below.

Result	Effect
0	1
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	1
6	2
7	2
8	2 + Skill (gain a skill token, see Gaining Skill Tokens)
9	2
10	2
11	3
12

Doubles: 2 + 1 in the direction of the wind. Supersedes effect.

Triples: 2 + 1 against the wind. Supersedes doubles.

At any time discard skill token from club used to ignore any one die in throw. Discard any three skill tokens for a mulligan.

For irons only: New skill tokens can be added to club used or next higher or lower: 3 iron – 5 iron – 7 iron – 9 iron – Wedge.

Club Cards

Each club card shows its AIR spaces and GROUND spaces (the number of movement rolls), its skill token box, and a row of effects. The T row shows the tee bonus, applied to the first AIR movement roll when hitting from a tee. The R row shows the spaces marked "X" that cannot be used when hitting from the rough.

Driver: 3 AIR spaces and 4 GROUND spaces. T: +1 on the first AIR space. R: X on the first and second AIR spaces.
3 Iron: 3 AIR spaces and 2 GROUND spaces. T: +1 on the first AIR space. R: X on the first AIR space.
7 Iron: 2 AIR spaces and 2 GROUND spaces. T: +1 on the first AIR space.
Putter: 1 GROUND space.
Wedge: Applies a -1 to ground movement when hitting from the rough.

Transcriber's note: the booklet's card illustrations for the Wedge and the 7 Iron's R row are not legible at print resolution. The physical cards are authoritative for those values.

Effect of Aim

If the current player aimed off center, then the ball will move one space in that direction in the first one or two movement rolls (if he aimed one space or two spaces to the left or right).

Effect of Wind/Slope

Rolling any doubles will supersede the normal forward movement. Instead, the active player moves his ball two spaces forward (plus tee bonus if any) and then one space in the direction of the wind/slope.

Rolling triples will supersede doubles. The active player moves his ball two spaces forward and one space against the direction of the wind/slope.

Note: For a diagonal wind/slope (in the 1, 3, 4, or 6 positions) the ball moves diagonally in that direction (one space forward or back and one space left or right).

Note: The effect of aim is still taken into account for movement effected by wind/slope.

Order of Movement

For every movement roll, the active player may move the ball forward and side to side in any order he chooses. A player may also choose to break up the forward movement.

In the Air vs. On the Ground

During the AIR movement of a shot, the ball is in the air and is unaffected by water or sand hazards.

At the completion of the final AIR movement, the ball lands on the ground and rolls on the ground for the remainder of the shot.

Using Skill Tokens/Mulligans

Before moving his ball, a player may spend any number of skill tokens from the club in use to remove that many dice from a movement roll. He then moves his ball based the new result.

At any point a player may discard any three skill tokens from any combination of his clubs to take a mulligan. He returns his ball to where it started the shot and plays the shot over.

Gaining Skill Tokens

Every time a player rolls an "8" without rolling doubles, he immediately takes a skill token from those available (if any) and places it on the club in use in the "Skill Tokens" space.

When gaining a skill token for an iron, he may choose to place it on the next higher or lower iron instead as follows:

3 iron — 5 iron — 7 iron — 9 iron — wedge

A player may not gain a skill token for a movement roll in which a skill token was spent.

Movement Through a Dogleg

A ball moving onto a dogleg must continue along the same axis. If approaching along the same axis as the brown lines, then it continues using the brown lines. If approaching along the same axis as the white lines, then it continues along the white lines.

Use dashed lines for forward movement of the ball. Use solid lines between spaces for aim and wind/slope effect. If there are two lines from one space, then it is the player's choice which branch to follow.

Wind/Slope and Doglegs

The Wind/Slope card is always aligned with the nearest fairway card between the current player's ball and the hole. After a player changes axis of movement (either on or after a dogleg card), he must be sure that the Wind/Slope card is aligned to the correct hole card before starting his shot.

Hazards

Sand Hazards

If the ball begins the ground movement or at any point during the ground movement moves onto a sand hazard space, it is immediately affected by the sand.

All remaining movement for the current movement roll is ignored. For every two unused GROUND movement rolls (rounded down), move the ball forward one space.

Playing from the Sand

A player may hit the ball from the sand using any iron (not the driver). He must roll all three dice for his turn.

If using the wedge, then move the ball as normal (remember there is a -1 applied to the ground movement for hitting from the rough).

For all other irons, if doubles come up for a movement roll (AIR or GROUND), then the ball doesn't move for that roll. Otherwise move the ball forward as usual (including the effect of triples).

When playing from the sand, aim is only applied to rolls in which the ball is moved. If doubles come up for a movement roll in which aim would be applied, then aim is applied instead to the next roll. If doubles come up again it is applied to the following roll and so on. It is possible that some or all of the aim will not be applied if enough doubles are rolled.

Penalty Hazards

If the ball goes out of bounds (off the grid of spaces) or enters water (blue spaces) or trees (dark green), then the current player is penalized one stroke (added to his score for the hole) and his turn ends immediately.

His ball is returned to the last valid space it passed through. If the ball is behind trees, then it may be placed in any of the spaces indicated or passed over by the dark arrows.

Note: Water hazards are ignored while a player's ball is in the AIR portion of movement.

Sinking the Shot

If a player begins his turn with his ball on the putting green (medium green spaces on the greens card), he may only use his putter.

A player must sink his ball into the hole (white space on the greens card) by exact count. That is, if his ball is in either space approaching the hole and he has only one more space left to move for his turn, then he may sink the ball into the hole. If not, then the ball keeps moving as usual as if the hole wasn't there.

Note: The ball will never sink on a roll of doubles or triples. Instead it will continue in the normal spaces. A player may use a skill token to remove the doubles and possibly sink the shot as usual.

If a player passes the hole, his next putt will be along the orthogonal (not diagonal) axis with the shortest path to the hole.

If there are two equidistant paths, the player may, before his turn, decide the axis he will follow.

Aim is always relative to the axis of travel. Wind is always relative to the nearest fairway card.

Score for the Hole

A player's score for the hole is the total number of strokes he used to get his ball from the tee to the hole plus all penalty strokes.

If his score is equal to par for the hole, then his position on the leaderboard doesn't change. For every stroke under par, he moves his marker up one space. For every stroke over par, he moves his marker down.

Winning

At the conclusion of the last hole, the player in the highest position on the leaderboard is the winner.

Ties are broken by the most total skill tokens.

Sample Round

The booklet's sample round is printed as a series of passages on the same hole. Each passage follows the shot it describes.

For the sample round, the red player will roll two dice (his swing tempo) for each of the seven movement rolls for his driver, three for AIR and four for GROUND.

His first roll is a "9" which, according to the reference card will result in a forward movement of two spaces. To this he adds the +1 for hitting from the tee for a total of three spaces.

Since he is aiming two to the left, he will also move the ball one space to the left in each of his first two movement rolls.

For his first movement roll, the ball will go a total of three spaces forward and one space to the left.

For his second roll he gets a "7" for a forward movement of two spaces plus one more to the left. Aim will no longer affect his shot. His last AIR movement roll is an "11" for 3 spaces.

At this point (first dark colored piece) his ball is now on the ground and he begins his GROUND movement rolls. To keep track, he moves his playing piece along the spaces of the driver card.

For his first GROUND movement roll he gets double "4"s. A player rolling an "8" normally takes a skill token for the club used except when rolling doubles. The red player doesn't get a skill token for this roll.

Doubles will cause the ball to move forward two spaces and one in the direction indicated by the cube on the Wind/Slope card (for the sample round, wind/slope pushes the ball to the right). Since he can move forward and laterally in any order, he first moves to the right to avoid the trees, and then forward.

His remaining GROUND movement rolls are "9", "5", and "6" for two, one, and two spaces forward. His total drive is 15 spaces (225 yards on the Yardage card).

For the sample round, the red player chooses a 3 iron for his next shot. He chooses a moderate swing tempo (two dice) and aims one space to the left.

His first AIR movement roll is a "7", moving the ball forward two spaces plus one to the left from Aim. His remaining AIR rolls are "6" and "9" for two and two spaces. At the completion of the AIR movement the ball is on the ground (first dark piece) one space from the sand.

His first GROUND roll is a "10" for a forward movement of two spaces. The first space is a sand hazard, so the ball is moved that far and the remaining space of the movement roll is ignored. Since there are two unused GROUND movement rolls left, the ball is moved forward one more space (two divided by two) and still in the sand.

For the sample round, the red player chooses his 7 iron for his next shot (there are no penalties when using a 7 iron from the rough). Because he's hitting from the sand he must roll all three dice. He aims one space to the right.

His results for AIR are doubles (ball doesn't move and Aim takes effect on the next roll) and "13" (three spaces plus one to the right for Aim).

For his first GROUND roll he gets a "9" (two spaces). His ball is now two spaces from the hole. If his next roll results in a movement of two spaces then the ball will go into the hole. He rolls a "12" (three spaces) causing the ball to go past the hole as if it wasn't there.

He is now putting from the far side of the hole heading back to the hole. Because he must move exactly two spaces to sink the putt, he chooses a swing tempo of two dice (better chance of moving exactly two), though if he rolls doubles the ball won't go in the hole.

He rolls doubles and his ball moves two spaces towards the hole and one in the direction of wind/slope (to the right for this hole). He is now adjacent to the hole and must move exactly one space to sink the putt. He chooses a slow swing tempo (one die) and rolls a 5, sinking the putt.

For the sample round, the red player scores 5 (driver, 3 iron, 7 iron and two putts) on a par 4 hole (one over par). He moves down one space on the leaderboard.

Transcriber's note: the printed sample text contains the typos "movemet" and "choses"; they are corrected here to "movement" and "chooses".