ROYAL BIRKDALE (CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF) Ocean, 1983 written by F.D.Thorpe (The first 9 holes are on side 1 of the tape, holes 10-18 on side 2.) PLAYING This famous golf courae has hosted championship golf since 1946, including the British Open Championship, which was first held at Royal Birkdale in 1954, the winner being Peter Thompson. In 1963 Tom Watson's memorable fifth triumph in the sunshine is still fresh in the minds of all who witnessed it. Try now to emulate the golfing 'Greats' who have walked Birkdale's links over the years. You will find it tough at first but with perseverance you will begin to produce 'professional' scores. THE GAME The Royal Birkdaie Championship Course is as accurately produced as the medium will allow and includes all the natural features of this testing course including 'Arnold Palmers Plaque'. The local wind conditions are also represented. They can be random, or you can set the conditions yourself. 1. Firstly the computer asks you to type in your name. Your name is announced on every tee and your scorecard is automatically signed. 2. The next question refers to wind effects. If you are a beginner it is suggested that you type in 'Y' then wind Direction 0 and Wind Force p. This will mean in effect that there is no wind and your shot will be unaltered by wind effects. If you are feeling more confident, type in 'N', which will initiate full wind effects. It will produce a random wind direction and a wind force. This will slowly change during your round so keep an eye on the arrow indicator and the wind direction in compass degrees above the arrow, and the wind strength which is printed below the arrow. The maximum force is 32 which simulates gale force conditions. THE FIRST TEE You are now on the first tee and the crowd awaits! You can see your ball flashing on the tee, and on the right is the Hole on the striped green. SETTING UP YOUR SHOT 1. You decide the direction first. You line up your feet and shoulders by typing in a compass direction "0 TO 360". '0' is at the top of the screen, '360' is at the bottom, and 360 is back at the top of the screen. You can type in any intermediate compass direction you wish. Wind speed and direction should be taken into account when setting up your facing direction. For instance if you have a Force 32 wind at right angles to your shot, you will have to allow approximately 30 degrees in your facing direction selection, otherwise your ball will be blown well off course. 2. You type in your CLUB selection from 1 TO 10. Club Number 1 is your 'driver', Club number 10 is your 'sand iron'. So on the long holes you will probably be using Club Number 1 off the tee. As you play the game you will become accustomed to the distances which each club will hit the bail. There are certain limitations to Club Selection: a. In Heavy Rough Club nos. 1 and 2 are useless, and if you use them in this situation your ball will not move. b. In a Bunker the only club you can use is Club no. 10. Any other club will not move your ball out of the bunker. 3. Strength of Shot Selection. This can be 0 TO 100. If you have selected your club correctly you will normally be giving its full strength shot (ie) 100. However shots near the green require more delicacy in strength selection. SHOT EXECUTION You will see for yourself on the tee and a flashing 'T' will be below you. The flashing 'T' means you are ready to hit your shot. To HIT the shot, you 'hit' the 'M' key which will make your club swing. It will swing upwards until it is behind your head. It will then begin to descend, this is where your skill tells. To hit a perfect shot you must hit the 'M' Key when the club is at the bottom of its swing (ie) in the middle of your legs. This will freeze the action and a white disc will appear beneath you on the tee. If you stop your swing too early, it will print an 'L' beneath you to signify your shot has HOOKED to the left with consequent loss of distance. If you stop the swing just before the bottom your shot will DRAW left. If you stop the swing just after the bottom your shot will FADE to the right and 'R' will be printed beneath you. If you fail to stop the swing it will SLICE badly with loss of distance. Follow this procedure for each shot, until you hit the green. THE GREEN You are now on the green and can see your ball relative to the hole. If you cannot see your ball, it will be in the Hole and your score card will come up on the screen. GREEN SLOPE You will see the direction of the slope on the green indicated by an arrow, which will indicate the exact direction above the arrow and severity of the slope below. (The higher the number the steeper the slope.) You will have to allow for slope direction and gradient when putting. SETTING UP FOR THE PUT 1. You set your direction up as before 0 to 360, 0 being at the top of the screen. 2. You then select the strength of your put, dependent on the slope and distance from the hole. THE PUT You will note that there is a horizontal black band shown below the green, and you will note your ball indicated towards the centre of the band. To make your put you hit the 'P' Key (DON'T KEEP YOUR FINGER ON THE KEY.) This will start your putter head moving towards the ball. To hit a perfect PUT you must again hit the 'P' key at the moment your putter head meets the ball. If you stop it short or keep your finger on the 'P' Key the ball will hardly move. If you stop it just short of the ball it will hit your ball under strength. If you stop the putter head after it has hit the ball, or let it run through without stopping, you will hit the ball strongly. So be careful. SCORE CARD This will update your score after each hole and you can of course copy it with your printer. OUT OF BOUNDS AND LOST BALL If you hit your ball beyond the hole perimeter, it will be either LOST BALL or OUT OF BOUNDS, in which case your new ball is printed back to where you hit it from with the penalty of one shot.