Pocket Links: Dice Golf

Eighteen holes. One die. Mind the wind. Golf as it would be played in the back of a notebook - a course drawn in pencil on dotted paper, a single die for every shot, and a breeze that will not be reasoned with. A round takes about ten minutes. ROLL, THEN CHOOSE The die tells you how far the ball goes. It does not tell you where. That part is yours: take the safe line down the fairway, or cut the corner over the water and leave yourself a putt at it. The die sets the distance. You take the risk. A DECK THAT BENDS THE ODDS Every hole opens with a choice of three cards. No roll worse than a 2. The rough plays kind for one hole. Nothing above a 4, and the middle firms up. You get one, it is spent when you play it, and the hole in front of you decides which one was worth keeping. ONE COURSE A DAY, THE SAME FOR EVERYONE A new eighteen is printed every morning and everybody in the world plays that one. You get a single attempt - no restarts, no second look - and your score goes on the leaderboard beside everybody else's. Miss a day and it is gone, which is rather the point. THE WEEKEND TOURNAMENT - THE CLUB COMPETITION Three rounds, Friday to Sunday, on one weekly board with a trophy at the end of it. Fifty-two a year. The field is everyone holding a Member's Card, and a card you have signed stands - replay a course and it will not improve it. Today's daily and its leaderboard stay free for everybody, always. The tournament is the members' club. KEEP THE BOOK Every round is written down: your card, your best, your eagles, the holes you would rather forget. It is your handwriting on the page and it stays on your device. THE MEMBER'S CARD One payment, once. No subscription, no season pass, nothing else to buy. - Every weekend tournament, fifty-two a year, with its own board - The full archive: every daily ever printed, to play whenever you like - The stationery drawer: other papers, other pencils, members' app icons - Every season after this one, included, always QUIETLY, AND ON PURPOSE No ads. No timers. No energy. No account required. Nothing tracks you, nothing is collected, and it plays perfectly well in a tunnel with no signal at all. Pencil, paper, one die, and eighteen holes. That is the whole game.