By Brad Cook
The weather may take a turn for the worse, and you might find yourself far from the links, but you can indulge in some golf any time on your iPod. Step into the shoes of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, John Daly, Retief Goosen, or Annika Sorenstam — or a custom golfer of your own creation — and play as many holes as you want on six real-life courses.
Brave the stiff winds and ocean-sized water hazards at Pebble Beach. Enjoy the placid mood at the Arnold Palmer-designed Bay Hill. Dare St. Andrews’ over 100 sand bunkers to stop your shots. Tackle the challenge of Sawgrass’ water-surrounded 17th green. Work on your long and short games at Pinehurst. Appreciate the beautiful majesty of Wentworth.
Decide on a course and choose from three levels of difficulty: amateur, pro, or legend. Play a full 18 holes, the front or back nine, a random selection of three or nine, or your specific favorites on that course.
Your Golf Career
Select Quick Start to jump right onto the fairway or set up a tournament against two other randomly chosen golfers. If your golf skills are a little rusty, go ahead and practice first, using any settings that are the most comfortable.
Whether you’re driving the ball or putting, you can adjust the direction and power of your shot before taking it, as well as cycle through different clubs before settling on the right one. Don’t forget to add spin to your shot while the ball is in mid-air. Before you putt, the onscreen grid shows the slope of the ground.
Between sessions, check out the Records menu to peruse a plethora of statistics, broken down by difficulty level. See what percentage of the time you sink putts, or look at your best scores. Wonder why you haven’t hit more holes-in-one. You can also follow your progress in earning the game’s 18 trophy balls for such feats as scoring an eagle (two under par) on any hole or chipping the ball in from at least 60 feet away.
As for a dogball, that’s when you score an eight on a single hole. Thankfully, the game doesn’t track those.
Tips and Tricks
- Tap or hold the left, right, top, or bottom sides of the click wheel to add spin to the ball while it’s in mid-air — hold longer to add more spin, but don’t overdo it. Press the center button to reset the spin.
- Straight shots aren’t always the best path to the hole. Take into consideration not just hazards, such as sand traps and bodies of water, but also the wind. When putting, you should survey the slope of the ground, as shown by the onscreen grid.
- You need to put more power into your shot if the ball lie is deeper.
- When you select Quick Start, the game will use the golfer, course, mode, and difficulty level chosen for your previous session.
- Toggle the mini map on and off by pressing the down button.
- If you want to avoid the potential of an embarrassing miss when the ball is just inches from the cup, go into the Options menu and turn on tap-ins.
iPod Games FAQ
Do you have questions regarding any of the iPod games available from the iTunes Store?
Going For a Birdie. Tiger’s putt looks straight. But does it have enough speed to reach the cup?
Click to see price.
- Site: Tiger Woods PGA Tour
- Publisher: Apple Inc.
- Developer: Electronic Arts
- Genre: Sports
More iPod Games
System Requirements
- Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or Windows 2000
- iPod nano (3rd and 4th generation only), iPod classic, or iPod (5th generation only). Not playable on your computer, other iPod models, iPod touch or iPhone. Please check which iPod model you have.
- iTunes 7.5 or higher required to download (games cannot be played in iTunes)