Playing Tiger's Game

Number 17 at Pebble Beach

No, I don't mean playing like Tiger.  I mean playing his game, as in his new online video game Tiger Woods Online.  EA sports has taken a bold leap into the world of online gaming and it seems upon first glance that they have produced a winner.  Now, golfers and non-golfers alike have an outlet that doesn't require buying software at the store or spending time installing software that you probably don't have room for on your hard drive.  Just go to the website, create a user name and you are almost instantly put on a golf course playing for the first time without having to wait.  For the time being EA is making it free to play one course at a time.  The free course changes about once a week.  If you want all courses all the time it is going to cost you, $59.99 for the yearly or $9.99 if you want to pay by the month.  I am still playing the freebie as long as I can but I plan on filling my membership card in the near future.

One of the great things about the game is that you can be standing in the middle of the fairway and a ball will come bouncing past you.  This ball is not random, it represents another plater playing on the same hole as you.  You are also offered the chance to create foursomes and play against other players.  You can play with your real friends and follow them as they progress in the game all the while you make points off their achievements.

All in all EA seems to have created a gold mine in online gaming.  They are proving that we are a long way from the days of Microsoft Golf 2.0 which required 4 floppy disks and about a half hour to install.

Look for me as RolandOfGil3ad.

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Cheers to All!

Hard Greens, High Scores and Good Company

Date: May 2, 2010
Tee Time: 3:00 pm
Course: The Oaks Golf Links
Holes 18
Par:71
Location: Somersworth, NH
Playing Partners: None - Playing as a Single

In southeast New Hampshire golf does not get much better then at The Oaks Golf Links in Somersworth, NH. From the road you may not think that you are approaching a top notch golf course, but your assumptions are quickly shattered as you stand on the first tee staring at a 350 yd par four that puts a sand trap right in between you and the green making the fairway dogleg around it. On their website they have a quote that reads, "The Oaks..is a course that plays as well as any course in the state, public or private."  In my opinion certain private NH courses would have trouble comparing to the conditions at The Oaks.

Do not expect to hit your driver very much on this course.  On the front nine there are only two holes that should require a driver for anyone who hits it over 200 yds.  Expect to be hitting 3 iron or a wood to put yourself into position for an approach shot.  If there is one thing that you can expect from playing The Oaks,  every club in your bag will be used.  It is not the type of course where every hole is similar and you end up hitting the same 150 yd club over and over again.  The Oaks will challenge not only your golf swing but also your ability to play around a course.  A perfect example is the 11th hole,  Par 5, 518 yds.   On the tee box are three markers labeling the hazards.  One for the hazard on the left 214 yds, one for the right 224 yds, and one if you go down the middle 230 yds.  What the markers don't tell you is that to get into the section where you have 230 yds you would need to place your shot inside of a 5-10 yd window, outside of that places you in the hazard.  It also does not tell you that if you hit your normal 230 yd club it will hit on a downslope and kick forward past 230 yds and into the hazard.  The best option is to hit a 3 iron about 215 down the middle and leave yourself two shots into the green, but from the tee box you would not immediately see this.

The greens at The Oaks are unlike anything you will find here in the north.  Hard, fast and impossible to stop a ball on.  The best hint for any one playing here for the first time is to land short and let the ball roll.  If you land anywhere near the pin expect to have a long putt ahead of you on very fast green.  However fast and green, they are exceptionaly well manicured.  Putts roll where you tell them to go.  A well struck putt will reward you with a clickity click, but beware the overly zealous putt, you may well find that you are chipping your next shot.

Today for my round I was joined by three gentlemen, Bob, Jason, and Brent.  Bob, a corporate exec, has had the privilege of playing courses that most of us only dream of . . . Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, but he chooses to be a member at The Oaks along with his wife.  Bob, I could tell was a good golfer who was maybe not having his best day.  He had a very nice swing, compressing the ball very strongly creating a shot that slowly rises into the air with a nice fade.

Jason and Brent were a couple of Air Force men recently stationed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and  made for good playing companions.  Jason's frequent statements of, "I don't get paid to do this so why should I get upset" about sums it up.  Although none of us probably played the best game that we are capable of playing there were some good shots to be had.  After the round we went and grabbed some burgers and beers and got to know each other a little better.  I will say it again, "you never know who you'll find playing as a single on a golf course."

Nothing can or should be said about my round other then it had more high points then low.  The high was parring the last three holes.  The low was . . . everything else.  I think I am still taking the club too far to the inside and too far back.  It might be time for a real lesson to try and work my kinks out.  Maybe I can get in a free lesson this month since it is free lesson month at most golf courses.

Score :
Front Nine - 51
Back Nine - 46
Total - 97 :(

Until the Next Round,

Cheers to All!