A couple nights every week this couple of weeks is spent discharging my, well, yearly IPPT obligation. But the remaining free evenings I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09.
Funnily, I have no desire to actually play golf in real-life. In fact, environmental groups routinely target the sport, and claim that golf is environmentally destructive. For starters, just look at the huge land area that’s required for a golf course, and compare it to the few number of contestants or spectators at an event. Then compare it to the same land area and imagine how many soccer stadiums you could build on it. Or, ever wondered how that grass in those fairways look so immaculate? A lot of water is used, along pesticides and chemicals.
So, I’m really quite happy to keep my exposure to golf limited to just the PS3 representation. It’s a beautiful-looking game, and tailored to meet quite a range of play abilities: from absolutely noobs who have absolutely no clue to what the sport is about (i.e. me), to experts who’re up for the real challenges of professional golf.
In fact, prior to playing TW PGA Tour, I’d no idea that golf was so sophisticated: I’d thought all that’s involved is hitting a small white ball with a iron stick with a club at the end, and trying to get that ball into a little hole in the ground.
But now I know that:
Wind plays a huge factor, but its effect can be limited by the type of clubs you’re using.
There’re many kinds of shots: drives, putts, draws, fades etc.
When to use Woods and Irons.
That a golf course comprises a Teeing area, the fairway, the rough, and hazards.
That each hole is rated on a numeric par, and the number of strokes you take to put the golf ball into that hole in comparison to par determines your score.
In golf, lower scores are better.
The more exotic the bird-sounding name is, the better it is. ‘Birdie’ is erm ok, ‘Eagle’ is pretty good, and ‘Condor‘ makes you a God of Golf.
The game’s huge too. I’ve been playing it for nearly 2 weeks now and have spent maybe around 40 hours in it, and I’m just (maybe) about just a quarter way through game completion. And keep in mind that many games, e.g. first-person shooters, are rated at 10-12 hours of play time before completion.
In fact, Ling’s actually interested in the game now too. Though when I asked her why, she remarked thoughtfully: “Well, it’s one game that people actually still clap even when you make a crappy shot.”:)
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