Weathering the Storm
I will touch on playing in the wind and rain, as some people online love to set courses up like this to throw you off of your game. Here are a few quick tips that may just help you play better in the elements.
When playing in the wind, and it can get up to 27 mph, lining up your shots can be tricky but with a little practice you can come out 'in the dry'. I'd say the average wind is about 12 mph so to line up your shot hit the A button and this will give you a view of your landing area. For 12 mph pretty much move the cursor until the flag is at the edge of the screen and add a little more to your shot to adjust for knockdown. If you are playing in 24 or 27 mph wind just double it but you must hit it harder, again you need to practice these kinds of shots. I always use topspin with high winds and this will cut the distance left or right just about in half, because it will keep the ball at a low trajectory and it will also eliminate the need to hit the ball harder because it will naturally go farther anyway.
Rain is a different story, and I might add, not as bad. When hitting to the flag in the rain try and land the ball past the flag with 5 irons and shorter because you will have backspin on the ball. Putting is a little different in the rain also, it will not break as much and you'll need to add about 5' to each putt under 30'. The longer the putt the more you will need to add for your putts, again, practice is key as usual.
Closing Comments
This has been without a doubt my favorite Xbox Live game so far, and it has the best community, in my opinion, on the Xbox Live service. Just remember to go all the way through your careers and do all of the skill challenges along the way. This will not only give you much needed skill points but also unlock better balls and shafts. One more thing to keep in mind, Tiger Woods didn't become a great superstar golfer overnight, so don't expect this to happen when you play the video game version either. Practice is key to learning and mastering the game of Links 2004.
