Nick Faldo Plays The Open

Nick Faldo Plays The Open is a golfing game for one player. The object is to complete a round of golf in as few strokes as possible.

Game features :

• based on a real course the Royal St. George's golf course of Sandwich, England,
• keyboard of joystick control,
• definable keys,
• options to play either a full round, play out (holes 1 - 9), play in (holes 10-18), or play any individual hole.

Game play :

The game screen is divided horizontally into two parts. Initially the top half of the screen is used to display the game setup menus, control method, keyboard key definition, etc. Once this has been completed the top half of the screen displays the map of the course and the bottom half of the screen is used to set up each stroke. The map in the top half of the screen can be toggled between a large or small scale view to enable the player to line up their shot.

The lower half of the screen consists of seven 'windows'. Two of these are information and show wind speed,and course information such as length and par for the current hole, strokes taken for this hole and for the match so far. A third toggles between a large and a small scale map of the course, three more set up the stroke and the last plays the stroke.

To make a stroke the player first moves the cursor to the club selection box where they can cycle through the available clubs :- putter, driver, wedge, 3 and 5 woods, a 3, 5, 7 and 9 irons.

The player then sets both the strength and direction of the shot before moving the cursor to the central box where a little animation plays, the caddy hands over the appropriate club and the shot is played. As the stroke is being played it is possible to fine-tune the shot and adjust the direction and strength.

Once the ball has been struck in the lower part of the screen, the upper part of the screen shows a top down view of the ball travelling over the course. When the ball has come to rest the player repeats the cycle until the ball is in the hole. The process is repeated until the game is complete