Quick Jumps:
Frequently Asked Questions as of 1-31-02
Tips for Early Survival
Tips on the Layout and Design of Your Course
Tips From The Testers

• Frequently Asked Questions as of 1-31-02
  • Q: How do I raise the Imagination rating of my holes?
  • A: The Imagination rating for holes is based on the different type of shots that golfers take when playing your holes. Holes that require your golfers to use any of the Fade, Draw, High-Backspin, and Low-Punch shots will inevitably have higher imagination ratings than those that only require straight shots or those that rely solely on accuracy.
  • Q: How do the number of holes affect what type of course I have created?
  • A:

    MC - "Municipal Course" are courses that have 0 to 5 holes 
    GC - "Golf Courses" are courses that have 6 to 9 holes 
    CC - "Country Clubs" are courses that have 10 to 17 holes 
    CC - "Championship Courses" are those that have exactly 18 holes 

  • Q: My skills seem to be limited depending upon the course type that I have. How does each course category affect my maximum points in skills?
  • A:

    MC - On a "Municipal Courses" you may have a max skill of 60% in any of your skills 
    GC - On a "Golf Course" you may have a max skill of 80% in any of your skills 
    CC - On a "Country Club Course" you may have a max skill of 100% in any of your skills 
    CC - On a "Championship Course" there is no maximum skill cap, and you may go beyond 100% 
    
    

  • Q: How does the Power Hitter skill affect my golfer?
  • A: For every 10% that you put in the power hitter skill you gain 4 Yards on all hits.
  • Q: How does the Long Driver skill affect my golfer?
  • A: For every 10% that you put into the Long Driver skill you gain 6 Yards for all drives from the tee.
  • Q: How does the driving range affect my golfers?
  • A: The standard Driving Range adds 15 yards to drives for everyone who visits it, while the upgraded Driving Range adds 30 yards to those who visit it.
  • Q: Why is the Luck skill important, how is it used?
  • A: The Luck skill affects your golfer's chance of hitting trees as well as increasing your chance to receive a "lucky bounce" toward the green in a normally bad shot.
  • Q: Why is the Recovery skill important, how is it used?
  • A: The Recovery skill affects your golfers ability to continue gracefully after a bad shot. For example a shot hit into the rough that would normally hamper your golfer's accuracy and distance would not affect your golfer as much if he/shee possesed the recovery skill. Meaning, you can occasionally treat bad terrain as if it were fairway in terms of its modifiers for accuracy and distance.
  • Q: I need to expand, but I.M. Picky hasn't visited my course quite some time. How do I get him to appear?
  • A: I.M. Picky will visit your coursed based upon your courses current fun or skill rating. For Easy and Moderate settings he will appear based upon your courses' Fun Rating, but for Difficult and Impossible, he will appear based on your courses' Skill Rating.
  • Q: I need to expand, but Ivana Richman hasn't visited my course quite some time. How do I get her to appear?
  • A: Ivana will visit your coursed based upon your courses current fun or skill rating. For Easy and Moderate settings she will appear based upon your courses' Fun Rating, but for Difficult and Impossible, she will appear based on your courses' Skill Rating.
  • Q: I need more money but J.P. Bigdome hasn't visited my course quite some time. How do I get him to appear
  • A: J.P Bigdome will visit your course for every 2 holes that you build, so will visit your course a total of 9 times assuming you eventually build a 18 hole golf course.
  • Q: Why would a course designer want to use terrain that has a significant amount of bounce or roll?
  • A: If you would like to make a hole "tricky" you could place firmer terrain (with higher roll and bounce ratings) in areas that golfers are likely to aim for so that their balls are redirected and respond in different ways. In the screenshot image below for example, there is a hill that has firm fairway centered on it. If golfer were to hit their ball to the center of the hill, the ball would either take an unexpected bounce or roll that could make it roll back down the hill. This tactic would indirectly reward those golfers who have the long driver or power hitter skills since they would be able to hit it over the hill and possibly benefit from the ball rolling further if they could make it land on the other side of the hill.
  • Q: My trees and buildings always seem to look the same when I place them. Is there any way that I can change their size or the direction they face?
  • A: With the use of the key on your keyboard after selecting an item from the interface that you would like to place you can then press the key to rotate buildings and landmarks, etc. or even adjust its size in the case of trees.
  • Q: I'm stuck, and have no idea how I'm going to get out of this money pit. Is there any way to gain some quick cash?
  • A: Yes, aside from home sites, which become available when silver members join; it is also possible to use a very simple money cheat in the game to gain some quick cash. Simply press the "Shift" and "=" ("+") key on your keyboard to gain more money and access to landmarks. Note that you can continue to hold it down for some really obscene amounts of money.

• Tips for Early Survival
  • Build only a few holes in the first two years. Unfortunately, it takes time for new holes to turn a profit: players must discover the holes, play and like them, recommend them to their friends, and so forth, a process which can take months of in-game time during which you must still pay for upkeep and maintenance on these under-utilized holes. It is recommend that you make no more than two or three holes during the first two years; you can add additional holes once your course is established and turning a profit. (To see how each hole is doing financially and otherwise, check out the Course Status Report window. [F1])
  • Put the tee of your first hole near the clubhouse If not provided with a pathway to follow, your golfers won't have a clear route to walk to your golf holes. They'll get there eventually, but the time that they spend walking through wild terrain is time they could be paying you greens fees. Build your first tee near to the clubhouse and run a pathway between them. The pathway should then continue alongside the hole and connect with (but not run over) the hole's fairways and greens, and from there continue to the tee of the next hole. You should always have a pathway that connects each hole and club facility to the clubhouse
  • Give the people what they want. Snacks. After you've built a couple of holes and are beginning to pick up members, build a snack bar on your course. Your players will be hungry and thirsty, and you can keep them playing if you give them someplace to eat and drink. And you make a profit off of each sale, as well! Make sure that you build a path to connect the snack bar with the clubhouse - the snack bar cannot operate until you do so. You can build more snack bars later on as you expand your course, but you should probably stick to one during the early game.

• Tips on the Layout and Design of Your Course
  • IMPORTANT: Make sure that you have a pathway connecting each club facility with the clubhouse!
    Club facilities - the snack bar, pro shop, driving range, etc. - must be connected to the clubhouse by a pathway. The path can be as long and devious as all get-out, but if there is no connection your facility will not operate, your golfers will be disgruntled and you won't get any cash. (Note that you do not have to link home sites to the clubhouse.)
  • Place the tee of a hole near to the green of the previous hole.
    You don't want your golfers to have to travel a long distance between holes. It irritates them and they might decide to leave the course before completing your course. This can cost you valuable green fees. If possible, place the tee of the next hole near the green of the previous one. Note that golfers will play the course in the order that you built it; however you can change the order of play at the Routing Map.
  • If possible, place two tees near to each other.
    If you set up your course with tees near to each other, you may be able to place marshals and rangers so that they will cover both areas. This can save you a bundle.
  • Give your golfers a place to sit down.
    Your golfers will get tired after a few rounds of play. If they don't have somewhere to rest, they'll head on home to their Sim-easy-chair and watch Sim-reality TV. Make sure that you place benches around your course.
  • Avoid building steep slopes in trafficked areas.
    Sim-golfers hate walking up hills. If you've got hills on your course, run your paths around rather than over them. If the golfers must ascend the hill, build a bridge from the bottom of the hill to the top. The bridge will be less steep than a path would be, anyway. [how do you build this bridge??]
  • Put pretty and/or cool stuff near to difficult holes.
    It's important to keep your golfers happy. If you've got a particularly nasty hole, say with a huge water hazard, a narrow dogleg fairway, and a tiny green sloped heavily towards the world's deepest sand trap; your less-accomplished golfers may become somewhat irate (if not pig-biting mad). Giving them something attractive to look at will help to take their minds off their woes.
  • Build a golf cart garage as soon as you can.
    Golf carts speed up play dramatically. You should build one as soon as you are allowed to. It will pay for itself in an extremely short time.

• Tips From The Testers
  Here are some tips from our hero's in the test department.
  • Build Slowly
    Don't expect to go from Putt Putt land to a world class golf resort in a day or two. Build your course slowly, taking the time to make every hole fun and profitable. Start with a nice 3 hole course and save up as much money as possible while slowly adding on holes as your cash reserves increase.
    - Zach Mumbach
    - Lead Tester
  • Hired Help
    Gary Golf cannot be expected to take care of all the work on the course by himself. A world class golf resort requires world class employees. Once your course is starting to grow you want to make sure and have plenty of groundskeepers, soda vendors, marshals, and greeters. Nothing can ruin a day of golf like unsightly weeds or thirst. - Zach Mumbach - Lead Tester
  • Listen To The Golfers
    As the golfers play your course they will make comments about the layout and difficulty of your course. Pay attention to these comments and adjust your course accordingly. The happier your golfers are, the more money you will make.
    - Ed Huey
    - Assistant Lead Tester, SimGolf
  • Place Landmarks
    To keep golfers happy place a lot of landmarks around your course. Many times golfers will be more willing to overlook small inconveniences if there is a scenic landmark nearby. Landmarks keep golfers happy.
    - Ed Huey
    - Assistant Lead Tester, SimGolf
  • Give I.M.Picky the Royal Treatment
    When I.M.Picky is playing your course, pay extra attention to him. Have employees waiting on his footsteps to ensure that he'll have a great time. Check his stats often to see if he's hungry or thirsty and get rid of those dandelions before he gets there. When he's happy, you're happy.
    - Ed Huey
    - Assistant Lead Tester, SimGolf
  • Tweak Your Course by Playing on It
    The only way to really know your golf course is if you play on it yourself. Have Gary Golf play a few rounds and he'll show you how difficult your holes are. At the same time, you can show off and improve Gary Golf's skills and help you earn a few extra bucks!
    - Ed Huey
    - Assistant Lead Tester, SimGolf
  • Plan Ahead
    There is a limited space you will be able to use when building a course. Take that into consideration as you're building your course. If you want to have an 18-hole course make sure you are going to have enough space available.
    - Shari Tague
    - Tester, SimGolf
  • Scenic trees
    I recommend the Scenic trees over scenic flowers. They might cost quite a bit more, but require little upkeep and generally look nicer. This way your employees can spend that valuable time tending things other than weed-stricken flowers.
    - Shari Tague
    - Tester, SimGolf