By Becky "Sha" Shamen
Long before becoming a reporter for the SL Newser, this bunny was
hopping to the four corners of the grid, in search of the next been
there done that. A friend and I would take turns introducing the other
to a new place and activity. One of these adventures took place at a
golf course. I had never tried real life golf, other than on a computer
simulation, so was game to try it in SL. Turned out, I really liked it,
although I couldn't explain why. Hoping to introduce our readers to this
fun adventure, we searched for a golf sim, to re-learn the game and
take notes on the back of the score card of the things we liked.Our first pick was a place called the Aero Golf Club. But we soon learned of several other great clubs. From the landing, we pass through the clubhouse, noting large meeting rooms on either side. They must have some big events and tournaments here. Out on the back patio, you'll see a large pool on your right and to the left there is a kiosk, where you join the club, to be allowed to play there (free) and get a HUD and golf club.
The golf club is what they call a loner and is good for 24 hours and only at Aero. You can always get a new loner club for each time you come, or click the [?] on the HUD to learn where to buy your own, use anywhere kit, which even comes with it's own holes.
Next, we find the first
tee, just a few steps from the kiosk. A large marker gives the tee
number and it's par and has an arrow on top, pointed to the hole. Two
small blocks mark the starting line Aim your body in the direction of
the hole, then select the Driver from the HUD. This does several things
to set you up to shoot. The head of the club adjusts shape, you are
posed to hit the ball, a small cloud emits a tail to show direction and
strength of wind and a pointer on the ground allows you to aim, using
left and right arrow keys. Having aimed in the right direction, you
must now decide how hard to hit the ball. Click and hold down the left
mouse button, in a clear area like the sky. As you keep it held down, a
bars meter adds bars and changes color, as it reaches the maximum power
level. Letting the button up allows the swing to begin and hit the ball.
As the ball travels, it leaves a cool strobe light trail, which remains
as you approach it. To get you to the ball's exact location, a large
ball marker hovers above it. When you are close enough to click the
marker, it will TP you to the ball. From this position, we follow the
same steps as before, facing the direction of the hole, picking a club
from the HUD, aiming and hitting. After you sink your putt in the hole, a
look around the perimeter of the green will find the arrow that points
to the next tee.
On my last visit to gather a few last details and pics, my radar picked
up an avatar moving about the sim. Moving to their location, there was
nobody to see. Then she welcomed me to which the reply was "Hi invisible
lady". We worked out that a glitch in my viewer was keeping her from
rezzing, while she could see me and my Newser Reporter tag. She told me
about the golf world, in SL. I followed her as she finished her last few
holes, although she was invisible, by following the bouncing ball. When
her round was finished, she took me to two more golf sims and I could
see her in those. We quickly looked around Hazeltine Golf course, then
went to Claremont Pines to meet Ben Sauber, a top competitor on the
circuit. My hostess qlued me that they use voice, when playing, so I
turned it on. Having only recently upgraded to voice, I was amazed at
how much the added dimension increased the fun.
We highly recommend golf, in SL. My good friend, Doc Philly, liked it so
much, he went out and bought his own set of clubs. Perhaps you'll catch
him there, shooting some rounds.
Lavender (233, 127, 25)
Lavender (233, 127, 25)
"Sha"
