How to play Golf online
- Walk the golfer: arrow keys (all eight directions)
- Swing: hold Space for the backswing, release to swing
- Second player: T/F/G/H to walk, A to swing
- One or two players: F11 (Select)
- Start, or go back to hole 1: F12 (Reset)
- Difficulty: F4 for the left player, F9 for the right player
Gameplay
The course has nine holes with a total par of 36. The fairways and greens are green, and the blue area around them is the rough. Your club always points at the ball. To aim, put the tip of the club on the ball and walk around it; the ball will fly straight away from the club. The direction is fixed the moment you start the backswing, and the longer you hold the button, the harder you hit. Practice swings away from the ball cost nothing, so use them to check the direction.
A slow ball that hits a tree bounces straight back. Water costs you a one-stroke penalty and the ball is placed on the nearest fairway. In a sand trap the ball becomes invisible and comes out with less power. A strong enough shot can fly over trees, water and sand. When the ball stops on the green, the screen switches to a close-up of the green for putting. In two-player games each player plays a whole hole before the other takes their turn, and the lowest total wins.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Difficulty switches
In position B the cup is large and an overhit ball stops at the edge of the rough. In position A the cup is smaller and the ball can roll into the rough, where it turns invisible and needs twice the power to get out.
Tips
- Find a lost ball with the club. The club keeps pointing at the ball even when you can’t see it, and the golfer slows down as he gets close.
- Take a practice swing first. If you are not sure of the angle, step away and swing. There is no penalty.
- Play safe on A. A slightly short shot is better than one that ends up in the rough.
- Go for the cup from the fairway. An accurate shot can drop straight into the hole without the close-up view.
The story behind Golf
On his first day at Atari, Lorenzen was sent to play a rival company’s golf game (he believes it was Computer Golf for the Magnavox Odyssey 2) and asked to copy it. He decided to make an improved version instead. He spent about six months on the game, working very long weeks, mostly to fit code that first came to around 3.7 KB into a 2 KB ROM. Newspapers advertised the cartridge in June 1980. Lorenzen went on to write Circus Atari. Later reviews were mixed: the graphics and sound were called simple, but AllGame found the game enjoyably challenging. It has been re-released on Atari Anthology and other collections.
