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Until Leaderboard this was probably the best of the golf sims on the market. The top half of the screen shows a top-down view of the course and below are a variety of other subscreens, including an image of your golfer, distance from the hole and the club selected. The graphics are clear and you have good control of your strokes. It is only let down by the putting where the lack of a close-up view makes it a bit of a lottery.

WITH remarkable originality Argus has produced a golf game. Not just any golf game, you understand, but Nick Faldo's absolutely faithful Open with stunning 900 screen map.


The screens show the Royal St George's golf course, venue for the 1985 British Open. A close-up of your position is given, with controls for selection of club, direction of shot and strength. There's a picture of the golfer and a portly caddy who hands him the clubs and makes sarcastic comments on your lack of prowess.

All these selections are icon-driven, with a little hand which you move round the screen until it points at the option you want.

The map shows the familiar mildewed carpet of golf simulations, with black fairways and smooth greens.

Approach shots are OK, but when you reach the green, even the magnified view cannot show what is happening. The closer you get to the hole the more difficult it is to judge direction, which is ridiculous.

All your brilliance at gauging wind and whatnot to reach the green in two on a par five hole goes for nothing as you miss five two-foot putts on the trot. It also seems weird that a full-strength putt may not carry to the hole.

It is certainly one of the prettiest and friendly Golf games we have seen, though a real test of player and programmer would be the inclusion of contours and sloping greens.

If you must buy a Golf simulation for ten quid then Argus has a very pleasant game it would love to flog you.


Publisher Argus Price £9.99
Memory 48K Joystick Kempston, Cursor, Sinclair, Fuller
***

Chris Bourne

NICK FALDO's OPEN
Mind Games / £9.99

Ross: How can you fit the whole of the Royal St George's golf course into a Speccy. Here's how, but it takes over nine hundred screens. You'll also get a hole- by-hole account of the course plus maps and history lesson.
Load up and then choose your joystick option. The Protek didn't seem to work too well for me but you can use the redefinable keyboard option to set this up.
If you take a look at the screen shot you'll be able to see the game layout. The top half shows a section of the course drawn in isometric perspective with your ball slap bang in the middle. Below this are seven windows giving you control over the golfer and how well he goes to it. You can increase or decrease the strength of your shots, adjust the angle through 360 degrees and choose the club you want to use. You can only make a shot when you've chosen a club and the caddy approves of it.
It's got to be said that I'm pretty crazy on the golf course, well, OK, the crazy golf course but the real thing's never appealed. So, this must have had me hooked as I really enjoyed knocking a ball about the screen. 3/5

Roger: Dennis Thatcher might like it but I didn't. I'd never use any club that'd have me as a member! 2/5

Rick: Any ol' iron, any ol' iron. Well, that didn't go down too well with my caddy who soon got very cheesed off with me. All good fun. 3/5