Stripped to its bare essentials, the game of golf may seem elegantly simple as you hit the ball through fairway, rough, and green until you drop it softly in the cup. Any veteran though will tell you that no game proves quite so devilishly difficult or deceptively complex as golf.
The Master at work.
While videogame golf is a great deal easier to master than its real-life counterpart, any golf game worth its salt, such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour® 08, offers in-depth strategy with a number of complex variables influencing nearly every shot. With that in mind, our Novice's Guide to Golf Games should help you understand the sport's fundamental concepts and strategies.
Golf tournaments are won and lost on the putting
greens, as more strokes are played around the
hole than anywhere else on the course.
Shot Selection
There's a great deal more to hitting a ball than simply "gripping it and ripping it" as the saying goes. Rather, there are several different shot types to consider, nearly all of which find their way into every golf game:
- Draw and fade: To draw (right to left) or fade (left to right) a ball is to purposely add side-spin in order to gently guide the ball to the left or right as you desire. Contrary to popular belief, hitting it straight isn't always your best bet. For example, if the hole you're playing "doglegs" to the left or right after two hundred yards, you can still take advantage of your driver's distance by hitting a fade or draw, effectively rounding the corner as the fairway turns one way or the other. Likewise, if a bunker stands between you and the green, you can fade or draw around the bunker. That way, if you come up short, you'll likely still be safe in the fairway, if not precisely where you hoped to be.
- Punch: The punch shot is essentially a short-flying, long-rolling shot perfectly suited for cutting a strong wind out of the equation. If, say, you're facing a two hundred yard shot with your 5-wood with 25mph wind in your face, you can use the punch shot with the 3-wood to get roughly the same distance while keeping the ball out of the air and away from the wind. Just make sure there's nothing but fairway along the way. If it hits the rough, the tall grass will take all the roll out of the ball and stop it within a few feet.
- The chip: This valued short game shot can be accurately equated to putting with an iron. Why not just use the putter? Well, putting through the thicker grass (whether fringe, fairway, or rough) takes a lot of the accuracy out of the putter. With an iron, you can pop the ball up and over the thicker grass and onto the green. Consider this shot any time you've got a lot of green to work with, allowing you to roll the ball across the green just as you would a putt.
- The pitch: The pitch shot comes into play right around the green just as chipping does. Unlike a chip though, pitching involves more airtime and less roll. Consider pitching when you're fairly deep in the rough outside the green or you just don't have much green to work with between you and the hole.
Beach!
Club Loft and Roll
Other than your swing's mechanics, there are few things more important in golf than proper club selection. Before you can pick the right club though, you must first understand how each club behaves. Luckily, it's fairly simple.
The lower the number on your club, the farther it will go and the more it will roll. Therefore, your Driver (think of it as your 1-wood) travels the furthest, flies the lowest, and rolls the longest. Conversely, your Loft Wedge will fly the highest, but only travel a short distance and roll the least amount forward. Moreover, your wedges will not only roll forward hardly at all, but often they'll roll backwards as the high loft of the shot carries with it enormous backspin.
While clearly understanding the distance the club will send the ball is crucial, don't discount how important the roll is. Considering whether you want the ball to rocket forward once it hits the ground or stop dead where it lands, and then choosing the appropriate club for that play can pay big dividends for you in the long run.
Handling Slope
Anytime your ball comes to rest on anything but a flat surface you're going to need to carefully consider the slope and its effect on your upcoming shot. Obviously, the more severe the slope the bigger an effect it will have, but more important is the direction the slope will send the ball.
Looking pretty.
If you're standing on an uphill slope with the ball above your feet, you can be sure that you'll pull the ball to the left on impact. Conversely, if you're standing on a downhill slope with the ball below your feet, it will scoot out and to the right once you strike the ball. The reverse of course is true for lefthanders in both cases.
Considering Wind
Much like correcting for slope, you must also take the wind into account as well. Even five to ten mph breezes can blow your ball a few yards off course, so make sure to take a quick look at the screen and see what nature has in store for you.
There's no one set ratio that will tell you precisely how much to adjust, but altering your target area one yard for every mile per hour of wind is a pretty good rule of thumb. Also, remember that the higher the ball flies, the more the wind will affect it, so you may want to adjust that little bit extra for those high-flying approach shots with your wedges.
Above or Below
Consider if where you intend the ball to land is significantly above or below you. A difference of a few feet shouldn't force any major changes, but if you're dealing with anything approaching ten feet or beyond, a change in club selection is in order. Adjust an entire club for every ten feet of elevation change, so for example, if you're about to hit your 9-iron at the green ten feet below you, you might want to grab your pitching wedge instead.
That's pure focus right there.
Laying Up
Players often blind themselves to the dangers surrounding a green and focus only on firing at the flag whenever possible. This aggressive style of play usually ends up in a sand trap, deep rough, or worse, a water hazard. This is particularly true on long approach shots with a 3-wood, 5-wood, 3-iron, or 4-iron where the ball must roll a good deal to reach its target area. If you need to roll through a sliver of fairway in between sand traps and rough in order to get to the green, you can be certain that you're better off "laying up" by aiming well short of the green on the fairway to set up a high percentage, short approach shot with a wedge.
Putting in Hand
Golf tournaments are won and lost on the putting greens as more strokes are played around the hole than anywhere else on the course. Putting strategy takes on premium importance then if you hope to score low and win games.
Charge or Die
There are two schools of thought when considering how much speed to put on the ball. Either you want to "charge" the ball at the hole, firing into the cup with plenty of speed, or you prefer the ball to "die" just as it reaches the hole and drop softly into the cup. Depending on your preference, you'll need to take vastly different amounts of break (how much the ball moves left or right during the putt) into account.
If you like to put speed on the ball, you should account for much less break as a faster putt powers through the left or right slant of the green. Obviously, if you like a slower putt, you'll want to account for more break, aiming farther left or right depending on the slant of the green.
Get in the hole!
For videogame golf, I would recommend "charging" the ball as most games are fairly forgiving in this respect, with the cup essentially "swallowing" even extremely fast putts, whereas the more precise "die" approach tends to leave putts just short of the hole.
Adjusting for Height
If adopting a different club depending on whether your target area is above or below you is important, adjusting the power of your putt for the same purpose is absolutely essential. Typically, you should adjust one foot of power for every inch the hole is above or below you, so, for example, you should apply twenty feet of speed for a putt that's fifteen feet long and five inches uphill.
Below the Hole
Whenever possible, you should try to putt uphill rather than downhill. While putting up a slope you can add an extra bit of power without worry, but put too much pace on a downhill putt and you can slip several feet beyond the hole in a heartbeat. Therefore, whether it's an approach shot from 150 yards or a pitch from just a few yards away, always err on the side of missing below the hole rather than above the hole.
There are endless variables, strategies, and considerations that go into every aspect of golf, but the preceding explanations and suggestions should at least bring a number of the most important elements into better focus. Good luck, and keep 'em in the short grass!
