1969 Let’s Play Golf Almost Got Distribution Right

The Golf Card Game That Almost Got Distribution Right. Let’s Play Golf “Give both the golfer and the non-golfer some of the thrills of golf right in the home… in the car… on a plane or anywhere.”

That’s the pitch from The DMR Co. of Jeffersontown, Kentucky in 1969. And unlike Par-It’s typewritten garage operation or Pokolf’s vanishing act, Let’s Play Golf actually had something most vintage golf card games lacked: professional packaging and a real company address.

What’s Inside Let’s Play Golf

The complete package:

• 108 plastic-coated playing cards (upgrade from cardboard!)
• Instruction booklet (not just a single sheet)
• Score pad and pencil
• Sturdy plastic box
• The DMR Co. branding

Someone invested real money here. This wasn’t printed in someone’s basement.

How to Play: Let’s Play Golf System

The golf card game rules are smarter than Par-It’s pure gambling:

5 card stacks:

• Woods
• 1-4 Irons
• 5-7 Irons
• 8-9 Irons
• Putter

Gameplay flow:

Everyone starts by drawing from the Woods stack. Your tee shot card tells you the distance AND which iron stack to use next.

Say your wood shot reads “250 yards—use 5-7 iron.” You draw from that stack. Maybe it says “on green—use putter.” You draw a putter card. It says “two putts.” Total: 4 shots.

This is strategic progression, not pure chaos.

Unlike Par-It where every shot was gambling, Let’s Play Golf guides you through a realistic round. Woods → Irons → Putter. Just like real golf.

The shuffle rule is genius: You can reshuffle any stack before drawing. This adds player agency. Don’t like your odds then just Shuffle and try again.

What The DMR Co. Got Right

Better than most family golf card games:

✓ Plastic-coated cards – Pokolf and Par-It used cheap cardboard that wore out fast but these survive.

✓ Real company backing – P.O. Box in Kentucky and actual branding, with professional packaging.

✓ Logical progression – You’re not randomly flipping for fate. You’re building a golf hole.

✓ Portable packaging – “In the car… on a plane or anywhere.” They understood the use case.

✓ Scalable gameplay – Twosome with one game, foursome with two games. Smart product design.

The “reshuffle anytime” rule – This is the sweet spot between Par-It’s chaos and Pokolf’s rigid structure. You have control, but not total control.

Why Let’s Play Golf Still Disappeared

Despite doing everything better than other vintage golf card games, it’s still a ghost online. Why?

What killed it:

• 1969 was pre-internet, pre-Amazon, pre-everything that makes GTCG possible today
• Distribution was still mail-order or local retail only
• No way to scale beyond Kentucky without massive capital
• Board game boom was coming (1970s-80s) but they were early

This is the tragedy of good vintage golf themed card games: Someone at The DMR Co. understood product design, packaging, gameplay balance—everything except timing and distribution.

What Let’s Play Golf Taught Me

Progression matters more than randomness.

Par-It was too chaotic. Let’s Play Golf showed that the best golf card games guide you through a realistic round while keeping uncertainty alive.

Golf the Card Game uses this same philosophy: strategic decisions + managed uncertainty = authentic golf themed fun.

The Verdict

Let’s Play Golf is a professional vintage card game from a real company, with real investment and real game design thinking.

Would I play it today? Absolutely—it’s better than a lot of modern golf card games for sale.

Would I recommend hunting for golf card games for sale to find a copy? If you see it, grab it.

Want Let’s Play Golf’s strategic flow with modern accessibility? That’s exactly what GTCG delivers.

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