                     Four for Fore! -- Golf Courses

                             by Tony Curro

Access Software, makers of Links, Links 386 Pro and co-designers of
Microsoft Golf, has released four more SVGA courses for these games.
Several have been out for some time, but to other commitments I have not
been able to get to them. I apologize to Access for this.

All of these courses, like the others, are a joy to play. Since Access
has been creating SVGA courses the graphics are astounding. Some of the
courses that are out are re-releases of their earlier versions. It is
worth the price to get the newer course. The courses here, as well as
the others, will run on Links, Links 386 Pro, and Microsoft Golf. When
you install the course it asks for which program you are installing it.
Of course if you have Links 386 Pro and MS Golf, you can run the
installation twice. You need to know the drive/directory where the game
resides.

For our first course we travel to Jolly Old England, Wishaw,
Warwickshire, to be exact. The Belfry, Brabazon Course, is one of the
best known course in Great Britain. It was the site of the 1993 Ryder
Cup Tournament, which is a contest between professionals of the U.S. and
Europe. The Belfry can trace its history to a potato farm. It was
transformed into an American-style course by Peter Allis and Dave
Thomas. The showpieces of The Belfry are the 10th hole, reachable with a
long drive across a  guarding lake, and the 18th hole, which contains
two water hazards. This is truly Jolly good golf!

We now go to sunny Florida for our second course, the famed Innisbrook
Hilton Resort and the Copperhead at Innisbrook. Innisbrook is located
just south of the Greek fishing community of Tarpon Springs and west of
Tampa. The Copperhead course is home to the annual JC Penney Classic. It
is a par 71 course with 18 holes, measuring 7,087 yards. Like its snake
namesake, Copperhead course winds  its way through rolling, pine covered
terrain unlike any found in Florida. Beware of its gaping sand bunkers
and water hazards, as the Copperhead is poised and ready to strike at
any moment. The Copperhead has been rated as one of 'America's Greatest'
by Golf Digest, and was picked as Florida's #1 course for 6 consecutive
years by Golfweek. The course was designed by master architect E.
Lawrence Packard.

Our next stop is Akron, Ohio, and the Firestone Country Club. Here we
play Firestone's South Course that has become one of the premier stops
for the PGA Tour. In 1960 it was also host to the PGA Championship, and
is presently the home of the NEC World Series of Golf. Firestone was
originally created by Harvey Firestone for his employees in 1928. It was
completely redesigned in 1959 by Robert Trent Jones. The LINKS team
photographed Firestone's South Course in late October to capture its
stunning fall colors. This course is a re-release of a previous VGA
version.

Our final stop is the shores of Carmel Bay on the Monterey Peninsula in
northern California, and the home of Pebble Beach Golf Links. It was the
creative vision of Samuel F. B. Morse. Laid out during the first World
War and opened in 1919, the course was designed by two California Sate
Amateur champions; Jack Neville and Douglas Grant. Today Pebble Beach
remains the only course of its stature open to public play. It has been
home to nine national championships, and has been the site of three U.S.
Opens and is scheduled to host a fourth in the year 2000. This course
has been chosen for the designation of a LINKS CLASSIC EDITION course.

After installing any course, you select it from the menu to play it. You
can have as many courses installed as you wish. I have them all
installed, and am always trying to improve my score.

All the courses are meticulously and faithfully reproduced by the LINKS
design team using the latest Kodak CD technology. It shows it the output
on the screen. Whenever I see a new course, or hear about one, I get it.
I know it is going to be a pleasure to play and look at. Access has
announced that they will be shipping new or updated courses about every
eight weeks. They have been keeping to this schedule.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

* Requires Links, Links 386 Pro, or Microsoft Golf.
* Supports RealSound and all major sound boards.
* Requires less than 3MB of hard disk space per course.
* Ships on 3.5" HD disks (5.25 HD disks are special request).


Product Information

The Belfry
Innisbrook
Firestone Country Club

SRP -- $29.95 each

Pebble Beach Golf Links

SRP -- $39.95

Access Software
4910 W Amelia Earhart Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
800-800-4880
801-359-2900
801-359-2968 (FAX)
