Access Software's Links LS is so fun to play because it's able to model real life conditions very accurately. It isn't simply knowing how far you are from the hole and choosing an appropriate club to make your shot. You also have to pay attention to the wind, ground conditions, green conditions, distance of ball rolling, surface of ball rolling...and also to your own psychological well-being at that moment you play the ball.

Practise!

The way to play well in Links is to practise. When you first start, play with a computer player like Arnold Palmer. See what clubs he selects for different distances, and in no time, you'll be able to choose your clubs wisely.

Wedges are important

You have to realise that the short game is very important in real life, and it is in Links. Half your score is determined near and on the putting green. If you're good in chipping and putting, half the battle is won.

Putting

Improving on putting will improve your score tremendously. To practise putting, just go on the green and turn on 'traces', you'll be able to see the path your ball travels. Understand how the slopes are represented by the grid lines. Practise until you can get a feel for the amount you must aim off to compensate for the slopes on the green.

Swing meter

Getting the snap at 6 o'clock is important, even though it's not easy. What I do is I make my eyes follow the red bar as it goes up, and then immediately look down at the 6 o'clock snap. Some people suggest developing a rhythm for the 'click-click'. It might help your game. Another thing is not to cross the 12 o'clock position. If you do that, the speed that the bar comes down at a faster rate, making it hard to hit the snap accurately.

Maintain your computer

To prevent any disk access when you're making a stroke, it's good to set your swapfile using a fixed amount. Make the minimum size equal to the maximum size, and at least 50mb. Also defrag your hard drive regularly. Buying more memory will increase performance greatly.

So if you want to play a game with me, just e-mail!