IntroductionIntroductionAim : To explain where this guide is coming from, and where it's going! Also includes a small section about me at the bottom of the page.
Let me put this straight right away. I am not, nor will I ever be the best Links player you'll ever meet or play against.I could go even further and say that it is amazing how well I do considering my snap since I moved to LS99 has been a nightmare (more of that later). Although I can compete on this tour, there are players here who are clearly better than I am. It is for this reason that I have asked them to include contributions to this guide.It's been an ambition of mine for a long time to write a guide like this, and I know many of you have been wanting it to be done! Well, at long last, here it is and I hope it can help at least some of you improve your golf on the links. There are many sites around which give charts of numbers, and some which have a few "tips" but this is a guide which hopefully goes into that little bit more depth, to help you not only understand the game better but to develop a "feel" for how to play without having to rely on charts and numbers. Personally I have always played by feel and learnt through experience, so it's been quite an eye opener to do some of the research for the charts and numbers sections but you'll find a lot more than a bunch of tables in here.I went to about 40-0 when I first joined Mplayer, and believe me or not, I didnt even know how to adjust the loft of clubs !, further down the road I am managing to compete in my tour with a snap bordering on the insane,so don't assume this guide will just be a case of me saying "hit the snap" and that's it, there's a lot more to it than that and I believe everyone on my tour has the ability to shoot well under par in all conditions even if they dont have time to play as often as some of the addicts I know. There seems to be a lot of resentment by some players that some people can shoot amazing scores in hard conditions on hard courses...and I don't like that. Sure, if you played Links every day, several rounds a day for a year you'd be pretty hot but you don't need to put much effort in to become an excellent player able to compete with 99% of the players out there. I hear a lot of moaning that top players won't help rookies out, so I am laying that to rest right now, there is no conspiracy theory, I am happy to share everything I know, but know this: so much of my game, and I expect this is true for most of the "good" players, is a sub-conscious accumulation of knowledge from playing Links for a long time, so although I'll do my best to convey everything in words, there might still be a few gaps here and there.Links is a great game, and a lot of fun, and I hope by teaching you a few things I can make it more fun for you, though I don't subscribe to the sad notion that only great scores are fun, you should enjoy every round you play otherwise put your CD in the bin and do something else. You won't win 'em all, but if you play the game in the spirit it was intended and you are prepared to learn a thing or two, you'll never "lose". By the way, at the end of the day Links is about a billion times easier than real golf, you can guarantee you'll improve at Links with time and some practice (not like real life eh?), so don't be intimidated by the big-mouthed, pig-headed, up-their-own-arse types who I used to detest at places like Mplayer, you know the ones, full of their own self-importance and gosh,they're sooooooo good aren't they ? oh dear. Please remember we are talking about clicking a mouse a couple of times and pretending we're Tiger Woods....ANYONE can master Links with a bit of time, a bit of patience and a lot of golf ! Right, it's probably about time for some information to be divulged so I'll point you back to the contents page where you can plough through the rest of this weighty tome. Final word though, do bear in mind this is all my own work, and you might disagree with some of it, or have a better way...fine, that's good, I don't claim that my way is the only way, so the more you can work out for yourself, the better, feel free to use whatever helps and ignore anything that doesnt......
Top Tips: Take what you need from here, ignore what you don't need or you disagree with
Try to "learn" through experience and playing the game rather than relying too much on charts
You CAN become as good as anyone that plays the game, but have fun while you do it !
Make sure your bad games are because of your snap, and not because you don't know what you're doing.
I am a 27 year old Physics student researching a Phd in Low-Dimensional-Semiconductor-Device physics (Quantum Dot Lasers to be exact) at Sheffield University in England, and this explains where the "LDSD" comes from in my name, the Bomber comes from my surname,Harris ( a famous WWII war-hero for those that dont know)..I wouldn't say that my physics knowledge helps my golf, maybe it helps me calculate things in my head a bit quicker, but thats's it. Sadly, neither my physics nor my Links knowledge help my real golf game, I am hoping when I've done studying ( by the Autumn of 1999 I hope) I can really have a go at proper golf, with lessons and stuff....I have been playing Links since LS97, about 18 months to two years ago. Tried the 9-hole demo, liked it, bought the full game, played a lot, got quite good, then discovered the internet golf phenomenon and that's when it went mental, played a few tours and ladders, met some great people then decided that there wasn't really a tour which kept me happy. So I made my own. Last year's effort was a bit rough and ready but had some great players and competition and ended up with a fantastic Ryder Cup competition online which I'm glad to say I managed to captain the winning World Team (just). I was amazed at how this year's tour took off though, with almost 200 members and some great players, some old and some new, but I still run my tour for all players of all abilities in the name of fun and friendship..by the way, Wils and Horns are also part of the LDSD research group (actually Horns has moved into electrical engineering) and have always been a good bit of competition for me, although it's only recently that Wils has managed to beat me in a tour event, and Horns still never will ( OK, he tied with me at Mauna Kea)...sadly for both Wils and Horns this is only a reflection of my lack of play and practice due to running this tour ( up to the US Masters every round I played one after the other with no practice rounds or other golf at all)...the MCI Classic is my first event with some practice and writing this has caused me to play some solid golf day-after-day and it looks like my old form is returning, especially at champ level..sorry lads, you'll never again beat the bomber hahahahahahaha....It's a shame that Pidge and Cainster fell by the wayside ( more LDSD), but they were a bit gash I suppose.By the way I live with Clare, a 27 year old ( wait for it ) lingerie designer ,oh yes my friends, respect is due......a-ha,a ha ha. Luckily for you lot even her curvaceous feminine charms aren't enough to keep me away from Links for long ( come on, we've been going at it for 10 years now) but she's a great girl and a hot one ;-).For those of you that are interested , I live in a lovely sunny little town called Rotherham , which is a bit like a miniature Beverly Hills, but in South Yorkshire, very posh area, the Queen went to school here....