Conference 7.286::golf

    Great Game..
    
    I also have Banff. That is GREAT. The graphics are incredible with Elk
    standing along the fairway.
    
    I recently added a sound board. That's an experience. You can even hear
    the swoosh of the club. The other sounds are even better.
    
    There are several of us in Augusta that have this game. We are getting
    ready to have a tournament. I'll let you know how it is going. 
    
    In real life I play to a ^@%!&, damn my modem burped. So playing the
    computer game is a lot of fun. 
    
    PS - Yesterday we have 12 inches of new WET snow...
    
    Jim
    

    Good note!

    I just received the new Castle Pines (in Colorado) and it's excellent!
    I'm still playing Links though (not the '386 version).  My next
    purchase will probably be Pebble Beach.

    Regards,
    Dale

    
       Yeah, I'm hooked.  Sure made this miserable winter easier to take.
       I've got Torry Pines (South), Pebble and Harbour Town.  I'd love
       to play in a tournament.
    
    -rick

    
    I've got Harbour Town, Mauna Kea, and Firestone.  All of them are
    excellent.  The greens on Firestone are tougher than the others.
    
    With the nice weather yesterday I went out in the back yard to chip a
    few real ones around.  My younger son (4 yrs old) took a plastic club
    and ball out there too.  He whacked one pretty well, then turned to me
    and said "Say 'Nice BIRD' Dad!".  btw, he chipped one in from about 50
    yds for a birdie the other day at Firestone!
    
    /jim

Bay Hill is the Toughest...the greens are brutal...

bob

I have Harbour Town, Barton Creek, Mauna Kea, Banff, Pebble Beach,
The Belfry and Innisbrook.  IMO, the Belfry has the toughest green.
Of course, I haven't played Firestone or Bayhill yet.

Tom

    I have some of the courses supplied as well as Banff Springs. I plan on
    playing Banff Springs this summer, just to see how close it is. I have
    seen a couple of the holes, and a layout of the course, and it is very
    accurate. Even the Banff Springs Hotel looks amazing. I am now
    consistently hitting even par, and am a 17 handicapper in real life.
    
    Brian

    
    
    I like to mention Bountiful it's a public course some where
    but on LINK386pro it's the toughtest greens I've ever played,
    you do get to hit thru other fairways in this course with its 
    spacious layout
    
    
    any news on MODEM to MODEM play? or any tourneys?
    
    wanna start on at lunch?  
    
    me and a friend have played many 72 hole events!
    
    
    
    Bill

    Hey Great!  I'm glad I'm not the only fanatic!  Looks like we already
    have enough people for some activities.  Some thoughts I've had are:

    Tournaments (of course) - Anyone have experience administrating these?

    Greatest Shot/Putt - I've made 2 Holes-in-one.  I'm sure there's some
                         classics out there.

    Techniques - What clubs do you carry?  How do you hit a 60yd shot? ...

    To do some of this one thing is obvious.  We need a place to share our
    Game and Shot files on the net.  Yeah, I even have the thought of
    creating a separate notesfile so we don't clutter up this "How long can
    Langer hit the ball" conference:-).  (Just Joking)

    What do you all think?

    -Brad (Boom Boom) Becker
    

    	I have the links386pro but I don't play it much because the screens
    take so long to draw.  I have a 420SX (DEC PC).  Do I need more memory?
    I think I have 4M in it now.  It's an excellent game but I'm waiting
    30 seconds or more between screens.
    
    					JT

    
    
    yeah you could use more mem I have 16 meg in my 420sx
    and it screams, You should look at your set and change all
    the visual resolutions to low levels , it really doesn't make
    that much of a difference in looks.
    
    
    BS

    
    you may also want to try the usual things... defrag your disk, play 
    around with cache sizes, put c:\dos near the beginning of your path,
    add more memory, look in your utilities disk to see if there's a 
    special driver that you should be using, etc.
    
    /jim
    

    I just added 4 meg and the screen painting time decreased DRASTICALLY.
    
    I've never gotten a hole in one, but I've come within inches on several
    occasions. 
    
    Jim
    

    I checked last night and the game recommends at least 6 meg.  Time to
    upgrade, I guess.
    BTW, what screen configurations are the favorites?  Do you use the
    caddy?  play windy conditions?  I haven't practiced much but find it
    difficult to make a good score (typical golfer).
    
    					JT

   Yes, LINKS386 is a great game! Although, I do hate it when I miss a 
   very short putt and hear the crowd and commentor say "Ahhhhhhhhhh,
   can't be too happy about that one." 

   Ray

    Screen Layout:
    I use the left 1/2 of the screen as the main view.  Upper right 1/4 is
    my green view (I love watching them come in - and yelling at them).
    And my lower right 1/4 is the profile.

    Practice!:
    Shortly after I started with the game I went out and "practiced" chip
    shots (I found MAX ~50yds chipping - with any club!) and then practiced
    putting and reading greens.  Rolling in a big breaker cracks me up!
    So like the real game, a little practice really helps.

    Wind:
    I like playing in windy conditions too.  But I think it's a little
    wrong that my short chip shots are so effected by the wind.  I think
    that need to tune that up a bit.

    -Boom Boom

    
    re: screen layout
    
    I used to use the 3-pane view: contour in upper left, green in upper
    right, and the main window below.  If this was possible in real golf,
    I'd love it.  It enables you to see the pin placement and get accurate
    information about height, trap locations, etc.
    
    In real life I play a lot of public courses.  As many different ones as
    I can afford.  I seldom know exactly where the traps are, or whether it
    is really safe to hit over a particular stand of trees, etc.
    
    So I've gone back to a single main screen view + the pop up bird's eye
    view, which I figure is information I could get off a score card (if
    only the score cards told the truth as well as the bird's eye view). 
    When I play a course for the first time, I only use the real score card
    that comes with the package.  Try it next time you buy a new course,
    and see how much harder it is!
    
    /jim                          

   I play the earlier version as I was to cheap to buy LinksPro386 without
a trial run and bought someones old version for 15 bucks. I have added
Muana Kea (love number 3 ) and Dorado Beach. Having tried all the settings,
I like to set my players up as pro level and play from the tips. Rolled in
my first %0 footer last night but haven't come close to an Ace yet !! Maybe
17 inches is as close as I have hit one. This sure beats Fighting Golf on
Nintendo !!!!!

Mad Hacker

    Any idea why Links hasn't come out with an Augusta National course? 
    With the exception of the first generation of Mean 18, I have never
    seen it on any other games.  Could it have something to do with copy
    rights?  I thought it very unusual that PGA Tour had Pebble Beach but
    called it Sterling Shores!  
    
    Am not currently playing LINKS as my machine cannot handle it, but the
    few times I have it was great.  I didn't line the original Links but
    really enjoyed LINKS386.  For the time being, I am very satisfied with
    the Jack Nicklaus Signature Edition.
    
    jd

�    Any idea why Links hasn't come out with an Augusta National course? 

Yea, I'm waiting for a golf game for various computer systems to have
Augusta National.  In fact, I think EA sports could do a cartridge game
for the Sega Genesis and have all the major tournaments.  Augusta National
would be a given, then they could pick 2 for the British Open, 2 for the
US Open and maybe one for the PGA.  I have to believe there is something
about Augusta National that has prevented computer game makers from
using it so far.

�    With the exception of the first generation of Mean 18, I have never
�    seen it on any other games.  Could it have something to do with copy
�    rights?  I thought it very unusual that PGA Tour had Pebble Beach but
�    called it Sterling Shores!  

Yea, Sterling Shores in PGA Tour golf was kind of funny.  I think I know
why EA did that.  Pebble Beach is actually copyrighted and they would need
permission to use the name.  So, they just changed the name ;-).

What's even funnier is in PGA Tour Golf II for the Sega Genesis, they
still have "Sterling Shores" and it is still Pebble Beach in disguise,
they just reordered the holes!

Mike

    Your thinking like me, but why did LINKS come out with Pebble Beach? 
    And as far as the major tournaments, Accolade did that for a few years
    with the Jack Nicklaus game but only included 3 of the 4
    courses...guess which one was never included!
    
    jd

    
    in the marketing foldout that came with the original package they
    explained that they were trying to get permission to create a
    simulation of Augusta and Pebble...  so they succeeded with Pebble
    but not with Augusta (yet).
    
    Augusta National has always valued exclusiveness, per se, and so
    maybe they'll never allow an accurate simulation to be constructed.
    This month's Golf Digest has a lot of discussion about the Masters,
    and if one thing is apparent, it's that they manage exclusiveness
    like an asset.
    
    /jim
    

    Someone asked this earlier in a previous note but, has anyone heard if
    a newer version of Links386 will allow Modem-to-Modem Play ??
    
    Brian (who_just_scored_my_first_under_par_round_yseterday !!) Clarke