Skill

Golfers in SimGolf are rated on three skills: length, accuracy, and imagination.  To be successful, your holes will need to reward each of these skills.  Golfers enjoy showing off their skills and you should provide them with an opportunity to do so.

Length is a measure of how far a golfer can hit the ball.  Let's say that most golfers will hit the ball 200 yards or less from the tee.  If you place a hill in the middle of your fairway 200 yards out, your long hitters will clear the top and will gain additional distance out of bounces and rolls on the hill's downward slope.  If the ball falls short and rolls back, a long second shot will be needed to get to the green.  Either way, long golfers will probably score better on the hole than other golfers.

Accuracy is used to determine how well a golfer can place a ball where he or she is aiming.  One way that you could build a hole to reward accurate golfers is as follows.  Provide two approaches to the green, one longer, wider, and more roundabout, the other narrow but a straight shot to the green.  Line the narrow shot with trees to make accuracy a necessity for hitting the green.  Most golfers will try to the safer route, while accurate golfers will be rewarded with a lower score for shooting straight for the green.

Imagination is the golfer's ability to use trick shots such as fades to score well on a hole.  Try this design to please your high imagination golfers.  Place a group of trees towards the end of your fairway blocking the approach to the green.  Next place a hill along one side of the fairway.  Most golfers will try to land short of the trees and then punch the ball through.  Imaginative golfers will instead use the hill to their advantage by hitting a fade or draw and using the hill to run the ball to the green.

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