Links 2003 realistic difficulty

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Still Linksing
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 2:43 am

Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Still Linksing »

Looked at my stats since switching to Champ click and compared to the PGA tour.
I'm looking to get my stats and game difficulty to PGA levels.
I can see I need to increase putting difficulty. If I can increase putting difficulty by 2 putts per round my key stats will all be quite realistic.
I'm finding the game quite fun when the stats all fall in line with the PGA. The game feels most realistic imo.

Anyone else look for stat realism or do you have stats way outside of PGA numbers???
Here's my breakdown of my key stats:

Scoring Average

PGA
1st 68.52
50th 70.46
Links 66.96 = 1st in PGA

% Drives in Fairway

PGA
1st 79.21%
50th 64.66%
Links 68.00% = 23rd in PGA

% Greens in Regulation

PGA
1st 76.33%
50th 69.15%
Links 67.00% = 109th in PGA

Average Putts Per Round

PGA
1st 27.47
50th 28.64
Links 25.31 = 1st in PGA
Last edited by Still Linksing on June 20th, 2020, 1:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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pmgolf
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by pmgolf »

I didn't compare my play to stats, but the driving force behind me changing from the Click style of play to RTS 13 years ago was the feeling that I'm actually playing the golf I'm watching instead of sitting there watching what the computer does when I press a button. I like to play Links like I'm actually playing real golf instead of approaching it like it's just another video game.

There's also a difference within RTS. When using a 100% power on all full shots, the game seems to be a little more forgiving about you making perfect "sweet spot" contact with the ball when it comes to how much distance you get with the shot. Jack Nicklaus used to say that he held a little power in reserve rather than go all out with each swing in order to maintain more control, and that rang a bell with me. I use 90 to 95% power with normal swings. If I don't keep my swing under control and use a good, repeatable rhythm and swing speed, I won't get good contact with the ball, and my distance can fall to as low as 230 yards with the Driver. The same thing is true when I play the real game, which I have been doing for almost 50 years. :smile:

Pete
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Adelade
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Adelade »

(Your scoring average numbers shouldnt have the % marks right?)
My stats for my current Career Mode season (19/24 weeks progressed):
69.7 Scoring Avg (my current season rank is 6th)
65.48% Drives in fwy
59.28% GIR
25.92 Putts per round

I need my putts up too but I've already planned on picking tougher pin positions for next season, as well as partly using one faster green setting than I used to use (at least Im going to test if the AI scores reacts realistically to it or not). No clue how to increase my obviously abysmal GIRs :laugh: The only thing I can think of is partly playing from shorter tees, which would make sense in one way since Links club distances are quite a bit shorter than today's real life PGA field. However then my average scoring would of course go down... and at the end of the day thats the one stat that I care most about having realistic, so Im quite happy with my current stats and challenge compared to my field.

Edit: I guess my putts would go up if I hit more greens... :wallbash:
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
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Still Linksing
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Still Linksing »

Adelade wrote: June 20th, 2020, 1:00 pm (Your scoring average numbers shouldnt have the % marks right?)
Oh, yep, error, I'll edit that. :pcwhack:
Adelade wrote: June 20th, 2020, 1:00 pm My stats for my current Career Mode season (19/24 weeks progressed):
69.7 Scoring Avg (my current season rank is 6th)
65.48% Drives in fwy
59.28% GIR
25.92 Putts per round
Yeah, I'm doing same to bring putts up. I just increased green hardness for my first round so it's harder to get close and speed. Will see how much difference it makes. Choosing harder pins would make a difference as well but I'm keeping that for later on. Shouldn't be too hard to lose 2 putts per round.

Your GIR is no good. You're hitting ok to the fairway and then pooping yourself when approaching the green. I think those stats show you're GIR is more a mental problem than anything else. :thumbup: :laugh:
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Adelade
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Adelade »

Still Linksing wrote: June 20th, 2020, 1:24 pmYour GIR is no good. You're hitting ok to the fairway and then pooping yourself when approaching the green. I think those stats show you're GIR is more a mental problem than anything else. :thumbup: :laugh:
Possible, mental is such a big part of the game, but I still dont feel like thats it. I play approaches safely as a playstyle and GIR is a stat I always strive to get as high as possible more so than any other stat. I think its more that I play shorter from tee than most other Linksters, partly because I dont have all my club distances set to max and partly because I often take safer club choices from tee, therefore I naturally have more difficult approaches than most people with similar drives-in-fairways stat as me. Also hitting the green from the rough (not to mention deep rough) is really difficult on challenging green speeds, I feel like rough and deep rough plays a little harder in Links than on the real PGA tour (I often see the real guys having little or no trouble making the ball stop where it lands from normal rough). I may also favour using courses with smaller greens slightly more than most people.
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
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Still Linksing
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Still Linksing »

Who has ridiculously good stats here??? I know they'll be hiding! :laugh:
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Stephen Sullivan
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Stephen Sullivan »

Playing Champ Powerstroke, my stats for this season so far on the European Tour at LSPN are:

Scoring average 67.52

% Drives in fairway 61.96

% Greens in regualtion 62.75

Average putts per round 24.87

and I don't feel I'm playing that well consistently enough, because I'm doing more course building than playing at the moment.
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FOOOOORE!
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by FOOOOORE! »

My main criterion has always been: Am I enjoying playing this game? Long ago I decided I am not really playing golf, I am playing a video game (and that applies to all other games I play - Flight Simulator, various car racing games, various shoot 'em ups, Cue Club 2 (highly recommended). I can crank my chess game opponents up to Grandmaster level and get whupped every single time; realistic, but fun?
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Danny D
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Danny D »

FOOOOORE! wrote: June 21st, 2020, 12:36 pm My main criterion has always been: Am I enjoying playing this game? Long ago I decided I am not really playing golf, I am playing a video game (and that applies to all other games I play - Flight Simulator, various car racing games, various shoot 'em ups, Cue Club 2 (highly recommended). I can crank my chess game opponents up to Grandmaster level and get whupped every single time; realistic, but fun?
What is Cue Club 2?

I have Virtual Pool 4 and I play 9 ball on the world tour in the champ mode against the computer opponents. I hold my own pretty well, but the game is clearly rigged. The computer players can miss pockets by a foot, and the ball still goes in. If I even so much as TOUCH any part of a rail, it hangs up in the jaws. Also, I can tell when the computer player is going to beat me shortly after I begin a match. They hardly ever miss a shot, and when they finally do, I'm always snookered. Not only that, the game will make me scratch in the strangest ways, even though I know cue ball control quite well. The game will take over and do whatever is necessary to make me lose, no matter how well I play. I have recorded a few of those matches just to go back and look at how the game is rigged to win any time it wants. It's really frustrating. :rant:

Dan
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Fatmouth Jones
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Re: Links 2003 realistic difficulty

Post by Fatmouth Jones »

Here's a different angle. After years of playing RTS and striving to play like like a pro, I was able to accomplish that, but it just didn't feel right. I barely averaged 280 off the tee, but I hit almost every fairway and GIR. As a pro it was hard to explain randomly leaving a ball 20 yards short of the green.With the inconstant club head speeds it wasn't very realalistic.
I switched to PS and instantly added 8 strokes to my card. I went from scoring like a pro to a pretty good amateur, but I could make more sense of inconstant shots. I have never had a better time playing this game
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